The hundred afghanis dated 1356 in the Solar Hijri calendar (1977) is money of the first Afghan republic. After the republic was proclaimed in 1973, as Da Afghanistan Bank itself writes, King Mohammed Zahir Shah's portrait on the notes was replaced by that of Mohammed Daoud, the country's first president, and the royal symbol gave way to the republican emblem.

The front shows Daoud and the coat of arms, the back the Friday Mosque of Herat, the Masjid-i Jami. The hundred entered circulation on 11 July 1974, and this piece carries the last date of the type, 1356.

In 1978 Daoud's republic was succeeded by the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the money changed its look again, so this series remains a record of a brief five-year era.

For an Afghanistan collection this represents the republican era, and for an architecture theme it offers the Herat mosque that would later return on the 1993 10,000 afghanis and the 21st-century 500 afghanis. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

A banknote from the VPcoins catalogue is a gift that is interesting to examine and has a story worth telling.