50 Rublei, National Bank of Belarus, series 2000

This 50-rouble note belongs to the clean, architecture-led family that Belarus issued dated "2000," after the redenomination that struck three zeros from the hyperinflated rouble of the 1990s. Its subject is the country's foremost war memorial, the Brest Fortress-Hero complex on the western border.

The fortress held out against the German assault in June 1941 and in 1965 was granted the title "Hero-Fortress," one of the highest Soviet honours; the vast concrete memorial opened there in 1971. The note shows the memorial's monumental star-shaped gateway — a five-pointed star cut clean through a block of concrete over the entrance — on the face, with the sculptural ensemble of the complex on the back. The watermark repeats the Kholmsk (Kholmskiye) Gate of the old citadel.

Printed by Goznak in Moscow and carrying a security thread, the note bears no officials' signatures. It circulated until the 2016 redenomination retired the entire 2000 series.