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Wednesday 4 April 2012

63) Coins/Currencies of the Middle East: (i) the United Arab Emirates:


63) Coins/Currencies  of the Middle East:
(i) the United Arab Emirates:

I visited the United Arab Emirates in January 2007, along with my wife Sumita on a brief stop-over from a trip to the UK. (Numismatics was, unfortunately, not one of my hobbies then, otherwise, I would have spent more time on collecting coin/currency specimens of the UAE). 

Fortunately, I did save some coins and a ten dirham note which inspired me to research the currencies of the Middle East. This is the first of a series of a few posts that I am currently working on. 

We had a very short stay in the UAE so, the cab driver–cum-guide whom we had engaged, took us on a whirlwind tour of the Emirates. All the beautiful Malls in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah etc., the beautiful world-famous buildings and the mosques with their exquisite architecture,  the drive through the Desert,  the Gold souks (markets), not to mention the friendly people everywhere we went.We loved going to see the Dubai festival, with its endless stream of traffic. Sumita had a kind of non-veg "Paratha Roll",from an Egyptian food stall (the name of the Roll, we could not understand)  and was immediately accosted by a visitor who said "I want to eat this. Where did you get this?" So we made our way back to the stall and through "sign language" the visitor made his food preference known to the food stall owner, thanking us profusely as we left.
 
 I, on the other hand, being a vegetarian, could only find "Samosa-Chole" at a Pakistani Food Stall where the elderly Stall owner on learning that we were from Hyderabad, India, got a special "Samosa-Chole" dish made for me, as his family was originally from Hyderabad, India, before the Partition of India. We talked animatedly about various places in Hyderabad and I felt as if I had known him for ever. When I was leaving the stall, he was sad to see me go and shook hands vigorously, knowing that we would never meet again in our lifetimes.

Dirham is the currency of the United Arab Emirates (AED) and Morocco. It consists of 1 Dirham sub-divided into 100 Fils (“Fils” is a unit of currency used in many Arab Countries and is in the singular form in Arabic. Incidentally, the plural form of Fils is “Fulus” which also refers to a small amount of money in many varieties of Arabic, particularly Egyptian – there is an amusing case of one of my friends holidaying in Egypt, where on sight-seeing trips they communicated with the local vendors for their buys with “how many fell loose”? ). 

The Dirham was introduced in the United Arab Emirates in December 1971, when the Qatari and Dubai Riyals were replaced by the Dirham at par.
The name Dirham has Greek origins from the word “Drachmae” or “Drachm” meaning an ancient Greek silver coin “the Drachma” or the “Didrachm” which was also a unit of weight/currency used across North Africa, the Middle East and Persia. Incidentally, a Drachma was also similar to the Jewish quarter-Shekel, a Franc and the Italian Lira (in 1882). Drachma literally means “a handful” in Latin. The Dirham is centuries old and through trade and use it has been in circulation in several Arab or Berber states, since the Ottoman Empire (founded by Osman I – or Othman I – in about 1300 A.D. and also refers to the Ottoman Empire ruled by his illustrious successors) and is a related unit to the Ottoman “dram” (weighing 3.207 gms, with 400 drams or dirhams being equal to one “Oka”. 

The Arab Dirham (introduced since 1788) originally measured 44.4 grains troy, in Egypt it measured 47.661 grains troy. Also, a small silver coin of the same weight circulates in Morocco.

Before 1966, all the Emirates that later formed the United Arab Emirates were using the Gulf Rupee as the circulating currency. Later, they, briefly introduced the Saudi Riyal, and thereafter, from 1966, the Qatar and Dubai Riyals were in circulation in all the emirates except Abu Dhabi. 

In Abu Dhabi, the Bahraini Dinar was in circulation, till it was replaced by the Dirham in December 1971.

 The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates is the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, which was established on 11th December 1980, with its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Coinage:

Two Series of Fils have been in circulation in the United Arab Emirates – one introduced in 1973 and the other in 1995 (sizes of some coins were reduced). The Fils of the smaller denomination i.e. 1, 5, and 10 are made of bronze, while the higher denominations i.e. 25 and 50 Fils and even the 1 Dirham coins are struck in cupro-nickel. The Fils coins were the same size and composition as the corresponding Qatar and Dubai Dirham coins, however, in 1995, the 50 Fils and 1 Dirham coins were reduced in size, with the new 50 Fils being curve-equilateral-heptagonal shaped.

The 1, 5 and 10 Fils are rarely used in general circulation and all transactions made are normally rounded off to the nearest multiples of 25 Fils. Sometimes there is a bit of confusion between the old 50 Fils coin and the new one Dirham coin introduced in 1995 because both these coins are almost of the same size.

Also, the Philippine one Peso coin, the Australian ten Cent coin, the Pakistani 5 Rupee coin, the Omani Baisa coin and the Moroccan Dirham among several other World coins are almost the same size as the UAE Dirham and present an “arbitrage” opportunity to unscrupulous persons to cheat unsuspecting users of Dirhams.

The value and numbers on the coins are written in Eastern Arabic numerals and the text is Arabic. The Eastern Arabic Numerals (also called “Arabic-Indic numerals” and “Arabic Eastern Numerals” are the symbols used to represent the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in conjunction with the Arabic alphabet in Arabian countries and has its own variations. These numbers are known as “Indian numbers” in Arabic or “Indic numbers” in English. However, these numbers are not to be confused with the Hindi numerals/numbers used in India. In most of present day Middle-East or North-Africa, “Western Arabic numerals” (i.e.0 to 9 are used) except in  the Magreb countries i.e. Egypt and Sudan, as also in the UAE.



The above is an image of a Obverse of one Dirham Coin (large sized) issued in “1989”. If you read the Eastern Arabic numerals chart given above, you can easily read the year given on the left hand side below the figure of the “jug” reading from left to right. On the right of 1989 is mentioned the Islamic year “1409”. (The present Gregorian calendar year 2012 corresponds to the Islamic years 1433-34 AH – Anno Hegirae).
This coin has been struck in cupro-nickel .

The Reverse of the above coin with United Arab Emirates mentioned in Arabic on top and English at the bottom and the value of the coin “one dirham” mentioned in Arabic.



The above is an image of the Obverse of a one Dirham coin (small sized) issued in “2005”. Such small sized one dirham coins were issued from 1995 onwards. The corresponding Islamic year mentioned on the coin in Eastern Arabic numerals is “1425”.



The Reverse of the above coin with United Arab Emirates mentioned in Arabic on top and English at the bottom and the value of the coin “One Dirham” mentioned in Arabic.



The above is an image of a one Dirham coin (small sized) issued in “1995”. The corresponding Islamic year mentioned on the coin in Eastern Arabic numerals is “1415”.


The above is an image of a fifty fils coin seven-sided (heptagonal) issued in “1998”. It shows the picture of an oil drilling rig. The corresponding Islamic year mentioned on the coin in Eastern Arabic numerals is “1419”.
The other face of the coin, with United Arab Emirates mentioned in both Arabic (on top) and English (below). The numeral “50” appears in Eastern Arabic with its denominational value mentioned in words in Arabic as well.

1 Fil coins have been circulated with a palm tree on one side, 5 fils with a fish, 10 Fils with a dhow (boat), and 25 Fils with a gazelle on one side among other issues


Banknotes:

Along with the coins, in 1973, the United Arab Emirates Currency Board issued notes in the denomination of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 1000 dirhams.
Again in 1982, a second series was introduced where the 1 and 1000 dirham notes were withdrawn.
New denominations of 500 dirham notes were introduced in 1983, 200 dirham in 1989 (old notes are quite rare – as they were printed only in 1989, however, they have been reintroduced in circulation in May 2008) and the 1000 dirham was reintroduced in 2000.
The present circulating notes introduced in the 1982 Series are in the following denominations and designs:
The Front of all denominations of these Banknotes has the text written in Arabic, with Eastern Arabic numerals. The Back of these Banknotes has the text written in English with numbers in Arabic numerals:
 5 Dirhams: On the Front of the 5 Dirhams Banknote is depicted the Sharjah Central “Souq, also known as “Islamic Souq”, the Blue “Souq” or the Central Market (“Souq” means “Market” in Arabic).

On the Back of the 5 Dirhams Banknote is depicted the Imam Salem Al Mutawa Mosque, which was formerly known as “Al Jamaa Mosque” in Sharjah and presents a landscape in the Northern Emirates.
The dimensions of this Banknote are 157 mm x 67 mm and its colour is Brown.  This Banknote is dated “2001” and this is part of the series which was first issued in 1982. 
10 Dirhams: This is a Souvenir which I saved from the UAE trip was a 10 Dirhams Banknote, images of which are presented here:
On the Front of the 10 Dirhams Banknote is depicted the Khanjar which is the traditional dagger of Oman.
 Notice that in the above specimen, the Front text is written in Arabic with the denomination numerals of the Note “10” depicted in Eastern Arabic , while the serial number of the  on the top left hand corner of the Note is in Eastern Arabic and on the bottom right Hand corner of the Note the serial number is in English. The issuing Authority’s particulars/signatures are also in Arabic. A falcon watermark is present on all the circulating Dirham Banknotes, so as to distinguish them from Banknotes which are not genuine.
On the Back of the 10 Dirhams Banknote is depicted a pilot farm project to reclaim the desert areas .
On this face, the text is in English with the numbers, also, mentioned in English. Next to the denomination of the note in English “TEN DIRHAMS” is mentioned the year of issue of this note “2004” and this is part of the series which was first issued in 1982.
 The dimensions of this Banknote are 147 mm x 62 mm and its colour is Green.

20 Dirhams (light blue – on the Front is the face of the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, while the Back presents a “Samaa” or a "trading dhow"). These trading Dhows are common on the Indo-Arabic trade route through the Arabian Sea and are also seen on the post independence Indian issues of ten rupee notes for more than 3 decades after Independence in 1947).

50 Dirhams: (purple – on the Front is an “Oryx” and the Back presents a pre-Islamic fort in Ai-Ain).

100 Dirhams: (pink – on the Front is the Fahidi Fort and on the Back is the Dubai World Trade Centre)

200 Dirhams: (green/brown – on the Front is the Zayed Sports City, while the Back presents the Central Bank of the UAE building).
 500 Dirhams: On the Front of the 500 Dirhams Banknote is depicted a Saker” falcon ("Falco cherrug").

The “Saker” falcon:  This is a large species of falcon which breeds from Eastern Europe across Asia to Manchuria. It is chiefly migratory except in the Southernmost part of its range and winters in Ethiopia, the Arab Peninsula, northern Pakistan and Western China. The name “Saker” is derived from the Arabic term “Saqr” meaning “falcon” and the Hindi word “cherrug” distorted from “Charg” meaning a “female Saker”.
 On the Back of the 500 Dirhams Banknote is depicted the Jumereirah Mosque, one of the best known mosques in the UAE.
The dimensions of this Banknote are 159 mm x 68 mm and its colour is Navy Blue. This Banknote is dated “2011” and this is part of the series which was first issued in 1982.


1000 Dirhams: On the Front of the 1000 Dirham Banknote is the Qasr al-Hosn Palace.

The Qasr al-Hosn Palace (meaning "Palace Fort"): also known as the "White Fort" or "Old Fort", was constructed in 1761 as a conical watch-tower to defend the only fresh-water well in Abu Dhabi island, is the oldest stone building in the city of Abu Dhabi.

The Tower was expanded into a little fort in 1793 and became the permanent residence of the ruling Sheikh. It underwent a major expansion in the late 1930s and remained the Emir's palace and seat of government till 1966. Presently it houses a museum displaying artifacts and pictures representing the history of the country. It also has a display of weapons which were used over the centuries.

On the Back of the 1000 Dirham Banknote is seen a view of the Abu Dhabi Corniche and a Saker Falcon.

The dimensions of this Banknote are 163 mm x 70 mm and its colour is greenish blue/Brown. This Banknote is dated "2015" and is part of the Series which was first issued in 1976 and re-introduced in 2000.

Commemorative Coins:

In 1976, a commemorative gold coin in the 1000 dirham denomination was issued by the Currency Board commemorating the “United Arab Emirates, 5th National Day”.
Since 1981, commemorative coins have been issued by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates in various denominations in cupro-nickel, gold, or silver. 

Some of the old issues include: commemorating “the 15th Hijra Century “(1981), The “27th Chess Olympiad in Dubai” (1986), The “25th anniversary of the first offshore oil shipment from Abu Dhabi”(1987),”The 10th anniversary of United Arab Emirates University”( 1987), “Qualification of the UAE National Football Team to 1990 FIFA World Cup”(1990), “Commemoration of the late Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum” (1992 –  1000 dirham gold coin, 500 dirham gold coin, 50 dirham silver coin), “The 10th Anniversary of the Central Bank of the UAE”(1992), the “20th Anniversary of the General Woman’s Union” (1995), the 30th anniversary of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan” (1996 – Gold and silver coins), “United Arab Emirates 25th National Day” (1996),35th Anniversary of “National Bank of Dubai” (1998), “50th Anniversary of UNICEF” (1998), “Sharjah the cultural Capital of the Arab World” (1998), “Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak” (the humanitarian personality of 1998), “Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan”(Islamic Personality of the year 1999), the 25th Anniversary of Dubai Islamic Bank (2000) etc.


Links:

1) Currency/Coinage of the Sultanate of Oman

2) Currencies of the Middle East (3): Kuwaiti Dinar and Fils

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