[10][11][12] The original afghani (ISO 4217 code: AFA) was introduced in 1923 during the era of King Amanullah Khan,[5][9] replacing the Afghan rupee that was used since 1891.

[15] Alongside the new currency, the various units of weight used in Afghanistan were replaced by a single metric system.

[16] Except during World War I, Afghanistan's foreign exchange rate has been freely determined by market forces.

[17] However, for some periods, a dual exchange rate regime existed in Afghanistan: an official exchange rate which was fixed by the major banks in the country, and a free market exchange rate which was determined by the supply and demand forces in Kabul's money bazaar called Saraye Shahzada.

[19] Banknotes from the period of Zahir Shah's monarchy ceased to be legal tender by 1991.

After the creation of a dysfunctional government and the start of the civil war, different warlords and factions, foreign powers and forgers each made their own afghani banknotes to support themselves financially, with no regard to standardization or honoring serial numbers.

In December 1996, shortly after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan's institutions, Ehsanullah Ehsan, the chairman of the Taliban's Central Bank, declared most afghani notes in circulation to be worthless (approximately 100 trillion Afghani) and cancelled the contract with the Russian firm that had been printing the currency since 1992.

Ehsan accused the firm of sending new shipments of afghani notes to ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani in northern Takhar province.

Abdul Rashid Dostum, who militarily controlled Jowzjan Province and nearby Uzbek villages, also printed his own money for a short time.

23,000 after the Taliban was replaced by a new government under Hamid Karzai in December 2001, before plunging again to Afs.

It was created in an effort to stabilize the economy and stop the rapid inflation.

[22] The new currency was announced by President Karzai on 4 September 2002, and was introduced to the market on October 8, 2002.

[23] This monetary reform was well received by the public as it was a sign of security and stability, especially the country's rebuilding effort.

People also no longer had to carry many bags of money for ordinary things.

It was the first time in many years that a sole currency was under the control of the central bank instead of warlords.

After depreciating during the last quarter of 2003/04, the afghani appreciated steadily, gaining 8 per cent against the US dollar between March 2004 and July 2004.

This appreciation, at a time of increasing inflation, appears to reflect a greater willingness by the population to use the afghani as a medium of exchange and as a store of value.

This trend appears to be attributable to the relative stability of the exchange rate since the introduction of the new currency, administrative measures aimed at promoting its use, such as the requirement that shopkeepers must price goods in afghani.

Donors are increasingly making payments in afghanis instead of US dollars and this appears to be widely accepted.

[24] After the 2021 re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the nation's foreign assets were frozen.

[25] The Islamic Emirate has banned all foreign currencies to encourage use of the afghani as national tender.

[26][27][28][29] In the third quarter of 2023, the Afghani rose to be the best performing currency in the world, climbing over 9% against the US dollar.

10,000 banknote from 1993 as a limited dark area in the hillside above the ancient 'pol' or gateway at the ruins near Lashkar Gah.