1000 Drams Leopard

Nagorno-Karabakh's coinage occupies a legally ambiguous position that no major numismatic authority has fully resolved — the republic declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991 but was never recognized by any UN member state, including Armenia, which nonetheless provided its primary financial and military support. These pieces were issued by a central bank of a country that most governments officially pretended did not exist.

The silver-with-gold-plate construction of this type, rather than solid gold, reflects the fiscal constraints of an unrecognized statelet operating under blockade conditions throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s.