5000 Manat

Turkmenistan's first banknote series, introduced after independence from the Soviet Union in 1993, carried portraits of Saparmurat Niyazov — "Turkmenbashi" — on every denomination. By the time this high-value note entered circulation in 1999–2000, Niyazov's cult of personality had become one of the most extreme in the post-Soviet world, and the currency itself functioned partly as a political tool, reinforcing his image in daily transactions.

The manat suffered severe inflation throughout the 1990s, which is precisely why a 5000-manat note existed at all. A watermark-only security profile on a high denomination was thin protection by that point, and counterfeiting was a documented concern across the series.