500 Dram

Armenia's first banknote series, issued in 1993, replaced Soviet-era rubles following independence — but the transition was neither clean nor immediate. The ruble remained in parallel use well into 1993, and the dram's introduction on November 22 of that year was delayed repeatedly by printing logistics and political instability following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The print run of just over twelve million is modest for a primary denomination, reflecting the severe economic contraction Armenia was experiencing at the time. GDP had collapsed by roughly fifty percent since 1990, which kept actual transactional demand low despite rampant inflation.