Dated 1340 in the Solar Hijri calendar, that is 1961, this ten afghanis note is money of royal Afghanistan under Mohammed Zahir Shah, who came to power in 1933 and ruled for forty years. His portrait beside the state coat of arms fills the front, where every inscription is in Arabic script.

The back takes you to the north of the country, to Balkh: it shows the Green Mosque, the shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa. Unlike the front, the back repeats the bank's name and the value in English.

The note belongs to the 1340–1342 series with the king's portrait and stands near the very end of the monarchy: after the republic was proclaimed in 1973, as Da Afghanistan Bank notes, Zahir Shah's portrait on the money was replaced by that of Mohammed Daoud.

For an Afghanistan collection this is one of the last royal pieces and a natural pair to the twenty afghanis of the same issue with the Independence Monument in Kabul. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

You can find companions for this banknote, by series or by year of issue, in the VPcoins catalogue.