The Azerbaijani manat was issued into circulation on 15 August 1992 after the Republic of Azerbaijan gained its independence.

With the 11 December 1993 Decree of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev on ‘Declaring the manat the only legal tender in the Republic of Azerbaijan’ the manat became the only legal tender in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan left the ruble zone.

According to the Decree of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 7 February 2005 on ‘Changes to the nominal value of monetary units and the scale of prices (denomination) in the Republic of Azerbaijan’ old banknotes were withdrawn from circulation starting from 2006.

Old banknotes (AZM) are exchanged by the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan without any restrictions and unlimitedly under the legislation.