500 Afghanis

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.