10 000 Manat

Azerbaijan's first national currency series was introduced while the country was still fighting—and losing ground—in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. The manat had replaced the Soviet ruble only in 1992, and runaway inflation almost immediately eroded its value, making high-denomination notes like this one necessary within two years of the currency's introduction.

G&D Leipzig produced the series under difficult procurement conditions for a newly independent state with no established central banking infrastructure. The watermark-only security specification reflects the practical constraints of the commission rather than any oversight.