Azerbaijan P-39 W39 5 Manat 2022 UNC—National Anthem—Map

Azerbaijan 5 Manat 2020–2022, Uncirculated.

• Front:
  • Books, quill and pen
  • Excerpt from the state anthem in background
    
• Back:
  • Map of Azerbaijan and Europe
  • Qobustan rock hieroglyphs
    
• Color: Mainly brown tones with some olive tones
• Watermark: Coat of arms and electrotype “5”
• Signature: Elman Rustamov (ER) — Governor, Central Bank of Azerbaijan
• Issuing Bank: Central Bank of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Mərkəzi Bankı)
• Currency: Third Manat (ISO: AZN, 2006–present)
• Denomination: 5 Manat
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 127 × 70 mm
• Shape: Rectangular
• Country: Independent Republic of Azerbaijan (1991–present); previously Azerbaijan SSR, constituent republic of USSR (1920–1991)

A Nation That Reads

Books, Quill, and the Words of an Anthem

Most countries put presidents or generals on their money. Azerbaijan put books and a quill pen. That choice says something. The 5 Manat note leads with scholarship and poetry — and running quietly through the background, almost like a watermark of the soul, are lines from the national anthem, Azərbaycan marsı.

The anthem itself has a story worth knowing. Its lyrics were written by the poet Ahmad Javad, its music by the composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov — two giants of Azerbaijani culture who both ran afoul of Soviet authorities. The anthem was suppressed for decades. When Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991, bringing it back wasn’t just ceremonial; it was an act of recovery. Printing its words on the national currency was a way of saying: we remember, and we’re not letting go again.

Forty Thousand Years on the Back of a Banknote

Qobustan and the Map of Azerbaijan

Flip the note over and the timeline lurches backward — way backward. Alongside a map of Azerbaijan sits imagery drawn from Qobustan, a limestone plateau southwest of Baku covered in petroglyphs carved by people who lived here up to 40,000 years ago. They left no written language, no monuments, no names — just thousands of images pressed into rock: hunters, dancers, boats, bulls, figures reaching toward something we can only guess at.

UNESCO made Qobustan a World Heritage Site in 2007. But its appearance on this banknote is making a different kind of argument — not to a committee, but to anyone who holds the note. It’s saying: we were here long before the borders were drawn, long before anyone thought to argue about them. For a country that has spent much of its modern history in territorial dispute, that’s not a small thing to put on your currency.

A Final Reflection: Old Stone, Fresh Ink

There’s a quiet audacity to this note. One side reaches back to the prehistoric; the other insists on the literary and the lyrical. Together they make a case that Azerbaijan is not just a post-Soviet state finding its footing — it’s the latest chapter of something very old. Whether you’re drawn to the Caucasus, to the aesthetics of modern banknote design, or simply to currency that has something to say, the 5 Manat earns its place in any serious collection.

Uncirculated examples from the 2020–2022 emission are crisp, well-printed, and full of detail — exactly as they left the press.