1 Somoni Archer

The somoni was introduced in 2000 to replace the Tajik rouble, itself a transitional currency that had been issued after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Named for Ismoil Somoni, the 9th-century Samanid ruler whose dynasty oversaw a flourishing of Persian culture across Central Asia, the currency was part of a broader state project of national identity-building during a period when Tajikistan was still recovering from a devastating civil war that had ended only in 1997.

KM#19 is part of a collector series issued by the National Bank — not a circulation piece.