5 Afghanis

Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance issued paper currency directly — without a central bank — throughout much of the 1930s, an arrangement that reflected both the country's underdeveloped financial infrastructure and the monarchy's reluctance to cede monetary control to an independent institution. Da Afghanistan Bank wasn't established until 1939, making this note part of the final years of that transitional arrangement.

The Pick 16 series is genuinely scarce in any condition, largely because rural circulation in Afghanistan was hard on paper — notes passed through many hands in environments that destroyed them quickly.