1000 Som

The Kyrgyz som was introduced in May 1993 when Kyrgyzstan became the first Central Asian former Soviet republic to break from the Russian ruble zone — a decision taken rapidly and, by regional standards, early. The 1000 Som sits at the top of the P#29 series, a denomination that by the mid-2010s represented roughly twenty US dollars, reflecting years of gradual depreciation since the note's predecessor series launched in the late 1990s.

Cotton substrate on a note of this size from a small-volume issuer often means inconsistent paper quality across production runs — worth checking on individual examples.