50 Roubles

Armenia's 1919 note issues were produced under extraordinary circumstances — the republic, formally recognized by the Allied powers but perpetually under military pressure from both Ottoman forces and the nascent Soviet state, needed circulating currency fast. Waterlow & Sons handled the contract from London, far from any immediate oversight, which was itself a political statement about where the young republic pinned its diplomatic hopes.

The P#30 series includes a watermark, relatively modest security for a Waterlow production of the period, suggesting cost constraints or urgency in procurement. Armenian independence lasted only until late 1920.