500 Afghanis Millennium

Issued in 1999 by Da Afghanistan Bank, this coin was struck while the Taliban government controlled Kabul — an administration that had, by that point, banned most forms of representational imagery and shut down the central bank's normal operations. The commemorative was almost certainly produced under contract by a foreign mint for international collector markets rather than domestic circulation, a common arrangement for states with limited minting infrastructure.

Afghanistan had no functioning mint capable of striking .999 silver commemoratives at this time.