20 Riels

The 1979 Cambodian riel series, of which this is a part, was issued immediately following the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge and the establishment of the People's Republic of Kampuchea. The Khmer Rouge had abolished currency entirely in 1975 — banks were emptied, notes burned, and the entire monetary system dismantled. This 1979 issue was therefore not a reform or replacement; it was the literal reconstitution of money as a social institution after four years of its total abolition.

Printed by the Soviet-aligned printing infrastructure rather than Western security printers, the series is relatively crude by regional standards of the period. The watermark is present but unremarkable in execution.