Azerbaijan Manat Banknotes: From the 1992 First Issues to the 2006 Redenomination
Pick up an Azerbaijani note and it will feel familiar in a way you cannot immediately place. The layout, the colour steps, the one theme per denomination: the trade press credits the manat family and the euro family to the same Austrian designer. Behind that resemblance sits a currency that was rebuilt twice in fourteen years, first in 1992 and then in 2006.
Manat in circulation from 15 August 1992 New manat from 1 January 2006 Seven circulating denominations One concept, one theme per note
Last updated: September 2026
Azerbaijan's manat went into circulation on 15 August 1992 and became the sole legal tender on 1 January 1994. A presidential decree of 7 February 2005 changed the nominal value of the currency, the new manat entered circulation on 1 January 2006, and the old notes were withdrawn in January 2007. Every note since carries one theme from a single concept.
What currency does Azerbaijan use?
The manat, issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The bank dates its own legal foundation to the Constitutional Law on Grounds for Economic Independence of 25 May 1991, whose Article 14 defined the status and powers of a National Bank as the supreme issuing agency (Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, History).
The institution itself came the following winter. The National Bank was established by the presidential decree "On the Establishment of the National Bank in the Republic of Azerbaijan" dated 11 February 1992, and the effective date of that decree, 12 February, is celebrated as the bank's establishment day. The first law regulating it was adopted on 7 August 1992 and its charter was approved by the Milli Mejlis on 1 December 1992.
The name on the notes changed later than the notes did. Following the entry into force of the Referendum Act of 18 March 2009 on amendments to the Constitution, the institution was renamed the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The bank's own description of the 2006 series gives the micro text on the back as "Azərbaycan Mərkəzi (Milli) Bankı", which covers both names at once, so reading the imprint is a quick way to place a manat note in its decade.
When was the manat introduced?
On 15 August 1992. The central bank states that the national currency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the manat, was put into circulation on that date and became the sole legal tender from 1 January 1994, which leaves roughly seventeen months in which the manat circulated without yet being the only legal tender.
The bank publishes the month each denomination appeared, and the rollout was fast. The 10 and 250 manat notes came in August 1992 with the 1 manat the same year, the 5 manat followed in December 1992, the 500 manat in February 1993, and the 50, 100 and 1000 manat in March 1993. A 10,000 manat note arrived in August 1994, a 50,000 manat in May 1996, and a second 1000 manat in December 2001 (Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, currency withdrawn from circulation).
Those notes are small by modern standards. The first family measures 125 by 63 mm, the 10,000 manat 130 by 65 mm and the 50,000 manat 132 by 66 mm, against 120 by 70 mm for today's 1 manat (Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 10 manat). The catalog describes the 1992 issue in plain terms: a deep olive-green 1 manat with Baku's Maiden Tower at the centre, and the same tower on the 250 manat (PMG World Paper Money Price Guide, read September 2026).
What money circulated in Azerbaijan before 1992?
Municipal notes, then state notes, then Soviet roubles. The central bank dates the independent money economy in Azerbaijan to the banknotes issued by the Baku Municipality in 1918, after what it calls a hundred year break (Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, History of national currency).
Those first issues are two distinct families. Small notes of 5, 15 and 50 gapiks and larger municipal currency of 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 manat were issued between January and April 1918 and vary in colour and size. New notes of 10, 25 and 50 manat were then developed and issued by resolution of the Baku City Council, and although they lost validity after the Baku Commune resigned on 31 July 1918, the bank says they were used as a circulation facility in 1918 and 1919.
The state issues came next. The Azerbaijan State Bank was set up on a government proposal of 7 March 1919, its charter was approved by parliament on 16 September 1919 and it opened on 30 September. The bank's account of the national currency lists notes of 25, 50, 100 and 250 manat with a 500 manat following early in 1920, and records that the name of the republic and the denomination on the last of them appear in Azerbaijani, Russian and French; its separate centenary article lists a 10 manat as well, so the two pages do not agree on the full denomination run. Soviet issues followed from 1920, and the bank notes that the Transcaucasian federation put a 10 billion rouble denomination into circulation during its issues of 1923 and 1924, which it describes as the first ever in the history of global cash circulation. Our page on the highest denomination banknote ever sets that claim against the rest of the field, and our Russia banknotes hub covers the rouble issues that circulated alongside.
What happened in the 2006 redenomination?
Azerbaijan changed the nominal value of its money and reissued the whole family. Under the presidential decree of 7 February 2005, "On Changing the Nominal Value of Monetary Units and the Scale of Prices (Denomination) in the Republic of Azerbaijan", the new manat was introduced into circulation on 1 January 2006, and the central bank states that as part of the denomination 1 new manat was equivalent to 5,000 old manats.
The handover took a full year. The old manat remained in circulation alongside the new manat throughout 2006, and from 1 January 2007 Azerbaijan transitioned fully to the new manat, with new banknotes and gapik coins introduced in stages. The bank's own catalogue of withdrawn currency confirms the timetable note by note: every old-manat denomination from the 5 manat of December 1992 to the 1000 manat of December 2001 carries the same withdrawal date of January 2007.
A redenomination is not a deadline for collectors. Azerbaijan withdrew its old manat notes in a single month, but the notes themselves did not go anywhere: they came out of tills and into drawers, which is why the 1992 and 1993 issues are still catalogued at only a few dollars in uncirculated condition. Our list of currency redenominations puts the 2006 change next to its peers, and what demonetization means explains the mechanics.
Azerbaijan banknote series at a glance
The table sets the issues side by side, using the central bank's own denomination lists, dates and theme names.
| Series | Year | Denominations | Themes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baku Municipality issues | 1918 | 5, 15 and 50 gapiks; 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 manat; then 10, 25 and 50 manat | Municipal currency | Issued January to April 1918 and varying in colour and size; the City Council notes were used as a circulation facility in 1918 and 1919 |
| Azerbaijan State Bank | 1919 to 1920 | 25, 50, 100 and 250 manat, with 500 manat early in 1920 | State issues of the first republic | The central bank's centenary article also lists a 10 manat; the 500 manat ran to series I to IV |
| First manat of independent Azerbaijan | 1992 to 1993 | 1, 10 and 250 manat in 1992; 5 manat December 1992; 500 manat February 1993; 50, 100 and 1000 manat March 1993 | Baku's Maiden Tower on the 1 and 250 manat | 125 by 63 mm; all withdrawn in January 2007 |
| Later old-manat notes | 1994 to 2001 | 10,000 manat August 1994; 50,000 manat May 1996; 1000 manat December 2001 | Not detailed here | 10,000 manat at 130 by 65 mm, 50,000 manat at 132 by 66 mm; all withdrawn in January 2007 |
| New manat, first issue | 2006 | 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 manat | Culture and art; literature and writings; history; Karabakh; education and future; economy and development | Introduced 1 January 2006 within the concept the bank calls Independent Azerbaijan; 70 mm deep, stepping up in length by 7 mm per denomination |
| 200 manat | 2018 | 200 manat | Modern architecture, built around the Heydar Aliyev Center | Issued 24 May 2018 as the seventh denomination within the existing conception; 160 by 70 mm; four levels of security |
| Upgraded notes | 2021 to 2026 | 1, 5 and 50 manat in 2021; 20 and 10 manat in 2022; 1 manat 2023; 50 manat 2025; 100 manat 2026 | Same themes, new security | Each keeps its motif within the Independent Azerbaijan concept and circulates in parallel with the earlier note of the same denomination |
Series data from the central bank's pages for the currency in circulation and for the currency withdrawn from circulation, which give each note's colour, dimensions, motif and security elements.
What is on the current Azerbaijani banknotes?
Seven denominations circulate: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 manat. Each is 70 mm deep and each takes one theme within a single concept, so the family reads as a set rather than a collection of separate designs. The reverses carry a stylised map showing Azerbaijan's integration with Europe together with patterns from old Azerbaijani carpets.
The individual themes are specific. The grey 1 manat is dedicated to culture and art and puts schematic drawings of the tar, the kamancha and the daf on the front against carpet patterns (Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 1 manat). The orange 5 manat takes literature and writings, with well known literary figures, old books and part of the national anthem. The blue 10 manat takes history, with the walls of the Icheri Sheher, the Shirvanshahs' Palace and the Maiden Tower. The green 20 manat takes Karabakh, with a sword, a helmet and a shield alongside the Khari Bulbul flower, which the bank describes as a symbol of peace. The yellow 50 manat takes education and the future, and the violet 100 manat takes economy and development. The bank publishes the theme, colour, dimensions, motif and full security list for every one of them on its currency in circulation pages.
The 200 manat is the newest denomination and the most heavily protected. The bank issued it on 24 May 2018 as the seventh denomination within the existing conception, with the Heydar Aliyev Center as the main motif and four levels of security, including a Spark Live coat of arms that shifts from green to blue, two iridescent ink stripes, a latent image, a RollingStar LEAD holographic foil stripe and a RollingStar security thread (Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 200 manat). The trade press reports that Crane Currency won the contest for the note's design and that Giesecke and Devrient printed it (Coin World).
Upgrades have arrived steadily since. Revised 1, 5 and 50 manat notes began circulating on 1 January 2021, the 20 and the 10 followed in 2022, a 1 manat carrying the signature of Governor Taleh Tahir Kazimov was issued on 18 September 2023, an upgraded 50 manat on 25 December 2025, and an upgraded 100 manat on 15 July 2026 whose hologram tilts to show the new Central Bank administrative building shifting from turquoise to purple (Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 100 manat 2026). Each upgrade keeps the old theme and circulates in parallel with the note it updates, which is why a collector can hold three dated versions of the same denomination.
Who designed the Azerbaijani manat banknotes?
The trade press credits Robert Kalina, the Austrian designer of the euro notes. Coin World, reporting the central bank's announcement of 20 October 2020, wrote that there is an explanation for the stylistic similarity the Azerbaijan notes have to the euro: they were both designed by Robert Kalina, whose T 382 proposal was selected by the Council of the European Monetary Institute on 3 December 1996 as the model for the new euro currency (Coin World, 6 November 2020).
The same report names two of his other commissions, the 2010 series for Syria and Bosnia and Herzegovina's 200 convertible mark note of 2002. The central bank's own banknote pages describe motif, colour, dimensions and every security element in detail but do not name a designer, so the attribution rests on the trade press rather than on the issuer. Our history of the euro banknotes covers the T 382 design and the competition it won, our Syria banknotes hub covers the 2010 series, and the banknote design process explains how a central bank commission is run.
The 2021 revisions show how tightly the concept is held. Coin World reported that the 1, 5 and 50 manat would be revised with the application of the latest technologies and innovations within the existing concept, that the notes circulating from 1 January 2021 would be recognisable second generation counterparts in theme, size and colour, that the older notes would remain legal tender, and that the most noticeable difference is that the backs are now in a vertical format. Neighbouring currencies took a different route, as our Turkey banknotes and Iran banknotes hubs show.
What are old Azerbaijani manat notes worth?
Very little, unless you catch the right prefix. Catalog values in US dollars below are from the PMG World Paper Money Price Guide, read in September 2026, at Very Good 8, Very Fine 20 and Uncirculated 60.
The 1992 issue 1 manat, catalogued as P-11, deep olive-green with Baku's Maiden Tower at the centre, is listed at $1, $5 and $8. The 250 manat of the same year splits into two varieties, and the split is dramatic: P-13a, the first issue with a fraction prefix, is listed at $10, $25 and $75, while P-13b, the second issue with two prefix letters, is listed at $0.50, $2.50 and $5.
Read that as the rule for the whole field. An uncirculated first-prefix 250 manat is catalogued at fifteen times the second-prefix note of the same design and date, so the serial number block decides the price long before the grade does. Catalog numbers are Pick numbers, explained in our guide to Pick numbers, and what determines banknote value covers the rest. Catalog values are a reference point, not a quote.
How do you start collecting Azerbaijani banknotes?
Buy the two eras separately. The old manat of 1992 to 2001 and the new manat from 2006 are different collecting problems, and mixing them is the fastest way to end up with an incoherent run.
Three routes work well. The old manat is the cheap historical set: eleven notes, one design language, and a bank that publishes the issue month for every one of them. The 2006 family of six is the design set, one theme per note, and it is still findable in uncirculated condition. The modern lane is the upgrade chase, where the same denomination exists in several dated versions with different signatures and security, and the 200 manat of 2018 sits at the top of it.
Learn the grading ladder before you spend. Grades run from Uncirculated down through AU, XF, VF, F, VG and G, and the certified market uses a 1 to 70 scale: our banknote grading guide explains it, graded versus raw banknotes covers when certification earns its cost, the banknote glossary defines prefixes and holograms, and how to store banknotes covers the rest.
Where can you buy Azerbaijani banknotes?
Buy from an established dealer that authenticates every note, documents where it came from, and stands behind it in writing. Prices far below every other seller, vague sourcing and no returns are the signals to walk away from.
Planet Banknote sources notes direct from mints, central banks and authorized distributors rather than reselling anonymous lots. Browse the current selection through the banknotes by country directory, where availability changes with what has been sourced, and see third-party certified pieces in the graded banknotes selection. Our guide to buying world banknotes safely and how to collect world banknotes cover the rest.
Planet Banknote is a family-owned dealership in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 2021. Every note is sourced direct from mints, central banks, and authorized distributors, inspected through our Planet Banknote Verified process, and ships with a free Certificate of Authenticity. US orders ship free via USPS Priority, and every order includes a free bonus gift.
Frequently asked questions
When was the Azerbaijani manat introduced?
The Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan says the manat was put into circulation on 15 August 1992 and became the sole legal tender from 1 January 1994. The 10 and 250 manat notes appeared in August 1992, the 5 manat in December 1992, the 500 manat in February 1993, and the 50, 100 and 1000 manat in March 1993.
What happened in Azerbaijan's 2006 redenomination?
Under a presidential decree of 7 February 2005 on changing the nominal value of monetary units, the new manat was introduced into circulation on 1 January 2006. The central bank states that as part of the denomination 1 new manat was equivalent to 5,000 old manats. The old manat circulated alongside the new one throughout 2006, and the country transitioned fully from 1 January 2007.
When were the old Azerbaijani manat notes withdrawn?
In January 2007. The central bank's catalogue of currency withdrawn from circulation gives the same withdrawal date for every old-manat denomination, from the 5, 10 and 250 manat of 1992 through the 50,000 manat of May 1996 to the 1000 manat issued in December 2001. New manat banknotes and gapik coins had been introduced in stages during 2006.
Who designed the Azerbaijani manat banknotes?
Coin World reports that the Azerbaijani notes and the euro notes were both designed by Robert Kalina, the Austrian designer whose T 382 proposal was selected by the Council of the European Monetary Institute on 3 December 1996 as the model for the euro. The same report credits him with the 2010 series for Syria and Bosnia and Herzegovina's 200 convertible mark note of 2002. The central bank's own pages do not name a designer.
What are the current Azerbaijani banknote denominations?
Seven: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 manat. Each is 70 mm deep and each carries one theme within the concept the central bank calls Independent Azerbaijan, running from culture and art on the 1 manat through history, Karabakh, education and economy to modern architecture on the 200. The reverses show a stylised map and patterns from old Azerbaijani carpets.
What money did Azerbaijan use before the manat?
Soviet roubles, and before them municipal and state issues. The central bank dates the independent money economy to the notes issued by the Baku Municipality between January and April 1918, in denominations of 5, 15 and 50 gapiks and 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 manat. The Azerbaijan State Bank, opened on 30 September 1919, then issued manat notes of its own.
Why do Azerbaijani banknotes look like euro notes?
Because the trade press credits both families to the same designer. Coin World says the stylistic similarity is explained by Robert Kalina having designed both. The resemblance shows in the shared grammar of the two families: one theme per denomination, sizes that step up with value, a colour assigned to each note, and themes rather than heads of state.