5 Roubles

Armenia's first banknote issue, this 5 Rouble note was produced by the short-lived First Republic of Armenia's Government Bank through its Yerevan branch at a moment when the new state was barely two years old and fighting on multiple fronts simultaneously — against Azerbaijani forces to the east, Turkish nationalist armies to the west, and chronic economic collapse from within. The note circulated in a region where Russian Imperial currency still passed freely alongside it, undermining any practical monetary authority the republic might have claimed.

The First Republic lasted only until December 1920, when Soviet forces entered Yerevan. Most of this issue was rendered worthless within months of printing.