9000 Riels - Norodom Sihamoni Monument / Signs of the Zodiac

Cambodia's commemorative silver program in the mid-2000s leaned heavily on Buddhist cosmology and Khmer cultural symbolism, and this issue fits squarely within that production run — multiple high-denomination silver pieces released for the international collector market rather than domestic circulation. Sihamoni ascended the throne in October 2004 following his father Sihanouk's abdication, chosen partly for his political neutrality after decades as a classical dance instructor and UNESCO ambassador in Paris.

The 9,000-riel denomination is purely notional; no piece of this weight and composition ever changed hands commercially at face value in Cambodia.