500 Kip New coat of arms

Pick 31 is a redesigned issue of the long-running 500 Kip denomination, distinguished from its predecessors by an updated coat of arms reflecting changes made to Laos's national symbols in the post-1991 constitutional revision period. The Bank of the Lao PDR has issued multiple 500 Kip variants across several decades, and the differences between them — particularly in the arms design — are subtle enough that misattribution in collections is common.

Watermark-only security at this denomination level reflects the note's modest purchasing power by 2015, when 500 Kip traded at roughly 1/8000th of a US dollar.