Catalog
5 Manat
| Issuer | National Bank of Azerbaijan |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Value | 5 Manat |
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| Obverse description | The obverse presents a vignette of six statues from the facade of the Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature in Baku, arranged left to right: Muhammad Fuzuli, Molla Panah Vagif, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Khurshidbanu Natavan, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, and Jafar Jabbarly. To the right, a stack of three books is shown alongside distinctive characters from the modern Azerbaijani alphabet (ə, ö, ğ, ş), with an excerpt from the national anthem rendered in intaglio. The denomination and issuer inscription appear in both Azerbaijani Latin script within a guilloche underprint in blue and green tones. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse bears a cartographic vignette of Azerbaijan set within the broader outline of Europe, rendered against a multicolour guilloche background. Below and to the left, stylised petroglyphs from the Gobustan rock art site are reproduced, referencing Azerbaijan's ancient heritage. A sample of Old Turkic script is also incorporated into the design, underscoring the historical depth of Azerbaijani civilisation. |
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| Comments |
Robert Kalina designed this note the same year his euro banknote designs entered circulation across the eurozone — Azerbaijan effectively hired the man of the moment. The OeBS contract for the Azerbaijani manat series followed a broader post-Soviet pattern of young Caucasian states outsourcing security printing to established European houses while domestic infrastructure remained undeveloped.
The 2005 manat series replaced a severely devalued transitional currency at a rate that wiped out four zeros, a redenomination timed to coincide with rising oil revenues from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline coming online.