500 Riels

The P#43 500 Riels bridges an awkward period in Cambodian monetary history — the country had only recently reconstituted a functioning central bank after the Khmer Rouge abolished money entirely in 1975 and the subsequent Vietnamese-backed government rebuilt the riel from nothing in 1980. By the mid-1990s, dollarization was already eating into the riel's practical role, particularly in Phnom Penh, which meant notes in this denomination circulated more heavily in rural provinces than in the capital.

The series was printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company. Heavily circulated examples frequently show horizontal fold stress along the lower third — a known characteristic of this issue due to the way smaller-denomination riels were bundled in rural markets.