3000 Riels - Norodom Sihamoni Year of the Dog

Cambodia's lunar series issues from this period were struck primarily for the collector export market, a revenue strategy the National Bank of Cambodia leaned on heavily during the mid-2000s reconstruction years. The riel had no meaningful role as a store of value domestically — the U.S. dollar and Thai baht dominated everyday transactions — making high-denomination silver pieces like this one essentially notional currency from the moment of striking.