5000 Dram

Armenia's first banknote series, of which this 5000 Dram is the highest denomination, was introduced in November 1993 when the dram replaced the Russian ruble at a rate of 200 rubles per dram — itself a consequence of Armenia's exclusion from the ruble zone following independence. The 1995 date on this note reflects a second print run of the inaugural series, not a redesign.

G&D's Leipzig facility has a long history with post-Soviet successor states, and the security specification here — watermark and thread only — was relatively modest even by mid-1990s standards, a likely reflection of budgetary constraints on a newly independent central bank still stabilizing its monetary system.