5000 Tengov Bukhara Soviet People's Republic

The Bukhara Soviet People's Republic was a short-lived state carved out of the former Bukharan Emirate after the Red Army overthrew Emir Alim Khan in September 1920. The emirate had its own coinage tradition stretching back centuries, and paper money was deeply alien to the local population — which made issuing high-denomination notes in the early 1920s a significant political gamble as much as an economic one.

The People's Republic itself was formally absorbed into the Soviet system by 1924, giving this entire emission series a lifespan measured in months rather than years. Notes from this issuer survived poorly in Central Asian climatic conditions, and many were damaged by humidity or vermin before any formal demonetization.