5000 Som

The 5000 Som was the highest denomination in Kyrgyz circulation for most of its issue period — a practical response to cumulative inflation rather than any single monetary crisis. Kyrgyzstan's som was introduced in 1993 following the collapse of the Soviet ruble zone, and the upper denominations climbed steadily over the subsequent decade and a half as the economy found its footing.

Color-shifting ink on a note of this type signals input from a security printer with serious credentials; Kyrgyz banknotes of this generation were produced by Goznak, the Russian state printing enterprise.