Catalog
500 Afghanis 1998 World Cup
| Issuer | Afghanistan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
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| Value | 500 Afghanis (أفغاني) (500 AFA) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin/Arabic |
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| Reverse description | A football player executes a dramatic bicycle kick in the center of the field, his body fully inverted with legs raised, set against the backdrop of a large stylized soccer ball rendered in high relief. The legend 'XVI WORLD CUP FRANCE 1998' curves around the upper and right periphery in Latin characters. The issue year '1997' is inscribed in the lower exergue. |
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| Additional information |
Issued under the Taliban government, which had seized Kabul in 1996 and controlled the Afghan mint by the time this coin was produced. The irony is considerable: a regime that banned television, music, and most public recreation authorized a silver commemorative celebrating the world's most-watched sporting event. These were never intended for domestic circulation — they were struck explicitly for the international collector market, a common revenue strategy for cash-starved governments throughout the 1990s.