Along with metal coins, paper banknotes were also issued in the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva after 1917. Khiva silk banknotes are of particular interest and value due to the production material and techniques.
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Silk money began to be produced in Khiva not earlier than October 1918 and not later than September 1919.
The banknotes were made of a silk ribbon of colored threads, which corresponded to a specific face value. At intervals equal to the length of the banknote, there was a strip 1–2 cm wide of other threads, usually thinner than the basic ones. The result was a long colored ribbon, regularly interrupted by thinner pink sections, which marked the area where a printed banknote was to be cut. Inscriptions and patterns were printed on the silk banknotes with the help of wooden stamps, kalybs, made of hard elm wood.
Patterns and inscriptions were one by one stamped with dye onto the silk ribbon, then a serial number was written by hand, and the band was cut. This production technology was quite primitive and led to the quick wearing of the image on the wooden stamp, which required the cutting of a new image or even replacement with a new stamp.
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