50 Riels Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge never controlled a functioning national banking system — they famously abolished money entirely after seizing Phnom Penh in April 1975, blowing up the National Bank building in the process. These notes belong to a much later chapter: issued by the remnant Khmer Rouge forces operating out of jungle enclaves along the Thai border, they circulated within territory still under their military control during the 1990s, long after the movement had been stripped of UN recognition and was slowly disintegrating through defections and Thai pressure.

The R-series designation reflects their status as a guerrilla scrip rather than a recognized national currency. Surviving examples are scarcer than their late issue date suggests — most circulated hard in remote conditions, and there was no organized preservation effort.