Catalog
500 Afghanis
| Issuer | Da Afghanistan Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 2002 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 152 × 64 mm |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of the Congregational Mosque (Masjid-i-Jami) in Herat with its distinctive minaret and tiled portal at right, set against a light guilloche underprint in blue and green tones. The bank title in Dari script appears across the top, with the denomination "500 Afghanis" rendered in both numerals and script at left. Two manuscript signatures with official titles appear in the lower centre field, above the Hijri date. |
|---|---|
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| Protection description | the Da Afghanistan Bank emblem visible when held to light; embedded security thread running vertically through the note. |
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| Comments |
P#71 was part of the first post-Taliban currency reform, issued after the Bonn Agreement established the Afghan Interim Authority in late 2001. The old mujahedeen-era and Taliban-period notes had been so extensively counterfeited — particularly the 10,000 Afghani notes printed in Russia by Dostum-aligned factions — that a full redenomination was unavoidable. The 2002 series was printed by De La Rue and introduced at a conversion rate of 1,000 old Afghanis to 1 new Afghani, effectively wiping out the parallel exchange rate chaos that had plagued the country through the 1990s.
Early issues circulated heavily in Kabul but distribution to rural provinces was uneven for months after release.