Reference Site for Islamic Banknotes

Items that made News in 2005

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Oman

Oman has issued a commemorative 1-rial banknote. The details of the note are described in the following press release that appeared in the Oman Times (online edition) on 23 December 2005.

CBO issues new RO1 banknote

By Our Special Correspondent

MUSCAT — On the occasion of Oman’s 35th National Day, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has issued a new commemorative banknote of RO1.
The note, which has already been issued to the banks on December 20, 2005, will be in circulation as legal tender along with the existing banknotes, with effect from today.
The RO1 denomination issued earlier will also remain as legal tenders.
The main features of the new banknote include portrait of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said; facsimile signature of His Majesty; watermark portrait of His Majesty; the National Emblem (two swords and a khanjar) in the middle; the apex bank’s name (Central Bank of Oman) on the top in Arabic; serial numbers on the right and left sides of the note; denomination in figure on the right and left sides and in words in the middle; the 35th National Day and year of issue (1426 H and 2005G in Arabic at the bottom); Omani adornment in gold behind the portrait of His Majesty; recognition feature for the blind on the left side; vertical security thread; and an Omani incense burner on the bottom centre.
Features on the other side (reverse) of the note include: the apex bank’s name in English (Central Bank of Oman) on the top; denomination in English (word) at the left bottom and in figure on the right; 35th National Day logo; 35th National Day commemorative text in English with the year of issue; flagship Shabab Oman; fort Jalali (bottom right); minaret of a mosque (centre); and traditional Omani jewellery (bottom centre).

[Submitted by Carlo Turco – December 2005]

Tunisia

Tunisia issued a new 10-dinar note on 8 November 2005. The colour is predominantly blue, with some brown and grey. The note carries a portrait of Elyssa (at the lower right) who founded Carthage 9 centuries BCE. The number '7' is used as a decoration, being a symbol of the change that occurred on 7 November 1987. The name of the issuing authority 'Central Bank of Tunisia' appears in the upper centre in Arabic, while in the centre is an illustration of the 'El Abidine' mosque in Carthage. The watermark consists of a portrait of Elyssa and the number '10'. A holographic foil strip (8mm wide) appears on the note at the centre-left.
On the back of the note the name of the issuing authority appears in French as 'Banque Centrale de Tunisie'. Two illustrations are used on the back of the note, one representing the past, being the 'Douga' archaelogical monument, and the other representing the modern era, being a satellite dish. Other design features reflect symbols of the world of information.
[Submitted by Jean-Michel Engels – December 2005]

Pakistan

The State Bank of Pakistan has a new Governor ... and the Governor is a woman! The following press release is from the State Bank of Pakistan and one can expect that it is only a matter of time before the new governor's signature appears on the bank notes.

3rd December, 2005

DR. SHAMSHAD AKHTAR APPOINTED GOVERNOR
STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN
The President has appointed Dr. Shamshad Akhtar as Governor, State Bank of Pakistan for a period of three years with effect from the date she assumes the charge of the post, says a notification issued by the Government of Pakistan, Finance Division (Internal Finance Wing) today.
She is the first woman in the history of State Bank, who has been appointed as SBP Governor. She will be the 14th Governor since the establishment of the State Bank in 1948.
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, who joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as Senior Economist in Country Operations at the ADB in 1990, is currently the Director General, ADB, Southeast Asia Department. She is the first female in ADB to rise to the rank of DG from within the institution.
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar has an M.S. in Economics from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, an M.A. in Development Economics from the University of Sussex in the U.K. and a Ph.D. in Economics from the U.K.’s Paisley College of Technology.
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar was a World Bank Economist based in Islamabad until a Fullbright sabbatical in 1987 took her to the Department of Economics at the Harvard University. There she did extensive research on poverty. She was also a visiting scholar at the Harvard University in 1987.
[Submitted by Peter Symes – December 2005]

Morocco

It is understood that Morocco has issued a new 20-Dirham note and that it has been in circulation since November 2nd.
[Submitted by Jean-Michel Engels – November 2005]

Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Bank plans to make its notes of different sizes to prevent counterfeiters from washing small denomination notes and using the substrate to forge larger notes. The changed notes are due to be released in 2006.
[Submitted by Claudio Marana – November 2005]

Iran

Iran has issued a new 2000-rial note. The note is understood to have been issued on 5 November 2005. The new issue carries a new signature of Danesh Jafari. The note has a portrait of Khomeini on the front and an illustration of the Ka'aba at the Holy Mosque in Mecca on the back.
[Submitted by Claudio Marana and Dr. S. Kazem Ahadi – November 2005]

Sudan

The 5000-dinar note issued by Sudan, and reported in July, is now available on the collector market. It is of interest to observe that the date on the note is January 2002, the same as the date on the 2000-dinar note. It has taken some time to get this note into circulation.
[Submitted by Walter Scarborough – September 2005]

Iran

The following information was located on the following web site: http://www.iranmania.com/
LONDON, September 19 (IranMania) - Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced on Sunday that it is not planning to replace the official currency, the rial, with the unofficial tooman, adding that CBI experts believed that the impact of the initiative would be evident on the national economy.
Some experts insisted that the rial needs to be replaced with the tooman, but later announced that the move would have inflationary effects (on the economy), it said, adding that opponents of the proposal argue that it would impose unnecessary costs of printing new banknotes on the government.
Experts are divided on the issue of changing national currency. Some believe that it is not necessary to change the national currency from the rial to the tooman and that it would be favorable to knock off a zero from the rial.
They say unnecessary zeros in the national currency would only fill the people's pockets with a lot of banknotes.
Experts have also called for printing banknotes in higher denomination, stressing that the people currently face serious challenges carrying a bulk of banknotes.
Ahmad Mojtahed, who heads the Banking and Monetary Research Center, said earlier that the people have to deal with a large number of notes in Iran, adding that the Central Bank of Iran is also faced with huge costs of printing low denomination notes.
He said there is no reason why the CBI must not print higher denomination notes, stressing that it will be a wise decision to print big banknotes as soon as possible.
People usually use the tooman instead of the rial on the country's unofficial markets. Each tooman is 10 rials.
[Submitted by Walter Scarborough – September 2005]

Iran

The following information was located on the following web site: http://www.finance24.com/
Iran to change currency value
Aug 29 2005 03:09:56:997PM
Teheran - Iran is considering changing the value of its currency, Iran's state news agency ISNA reported on Monday. The national currency is officially the rial, with about 9 000 rials equal to one US dollar. But the term rial is only used by banks: Iranians usually refer to their currency as the toman, with one toman equal to ten rials. ISNA quoted sources as saying that the new administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad planned to change the currency from rials to toman, effectively knocking one zero off the national currency. In Iran, coins are available in 50, 100, 250 and 500 rial denominations, but these have little use because of their low value. Banknotes start at 100 rials, but again the 100, 200 and 500 rial notes are rarely used.
The banknotes most commonly used by Iranians are the 1 000, 2 000, 5000, and 10 000 rial notes, with the 20 000 rial note also increasingly popular. Rising consumer prices in Iran have meant that, even on a trip to the supermarket, a large quantity of banknotes changes hands, making the use of travellers' cheques worth up to 5 000 000 rials much more practical. There is a limited credit card system in Iran, but credit cards are accepted in very few places and few Iranians own one. Foreign credit cards cannot be used in Iran.

[Submitted by Ronny Hick – August 2005]

Pakistan

Pakistan's new 5000-rupee note is expected to be issued in December 2005. A mock-up of the note is available on this link.
[Submitted by Yahya Qureshi – August 2005]

Morocco

Morocco issued a new 50 dirham note on 28 July 2005. The green note has a portrait of the king at left and a picture of a dam in the centre of the note.
[Submitted by Jean-Michel Engels and Claudio Marana – August 2005]

Pakistan

The Following Press Release was provided by the State Bank of Pakistan on 12th August, 2005

State Bank to issue Rs.20/- Bank Note from 13th August, 2005

The State Bank of Pakistan today announced that all the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation (Bank) throughout the country will issue the bank note of Rs.20/- denomination with effect from 13th August, 2005. The sixteen field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation (Bank) are in Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Muzaffarabad, D.I. Khan, Sukkur, Hyderabad and North Nazimabad, Karachi.

The salient features of Rs.20/- bank note are as under:-

F R O N T
Portrait – The Enlarged portrait of Quaid-e-Azam in Sherwani appears on the right side of the note.
See through – Value figure of the note appears partly on obverse left top and partly on reverse right top giving perfect look when viewed through light
Anti Scan and Anti Copy – Anti scan infra red ink used to prevent scanning and photo copying the exact note.
Latent Image – Hidden image of denomination in figures appears while tilting the note at right side of the portrait of Quaid-e-Azam.
Year of Production – Year of production appears on the right side of the note
Braille feature – Raised line feeling for visually impaired people appears on left side of the note.
Intaglio Lines – Intaglio Lines appear on right and left corners of the note.
Lettering –

  1. The denomination appears in Urdu numeral on right and left top while the denomination in English appears on right bottom.
  2. The words "STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN", the denomination, the promissory clause and the guarantee clause appear in Urdu in the centre.
  3. The words "GOVERNOR STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN" in Urdu appear at the centre.
  4. Micro lettering denomination 20 appears at the right top in vertical and left bottom in horizontal.
  5. The front of the note has been printed by Intaglio Process.
Number – One serial number with Prefix appears on the top right side and the other number appears below the watermark on the bottom left corner written with magnetic ink.
Signature – The signature of the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Dr. Ishrat Husain is printed in main colour of the note above the words “GOVERNOR STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN".

B A C K
The back of the note has been printed by Offset Process.
Geometric Patterns – Decorative ornamental patterns appear on the entire note.
Vignette – Mohenjodaro, Larkana forms the Vignette of the note.
Lettering –

  1. The words "STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN" appear at the top centre.
  2. The value in words appears in a panel at the centre bottom.
  3. The denomination in figures appears in English at left bottom and on top below the words ‘State Bank of Pakistan’ while in Urdu at right bottom.
  4. The words “[unable to be reproduced]” in Urdu appear on upper left side in a round design.
  5. The words MOHEN-JO-DARO, LARKANA appear in horizontal on left bottom.
Insignia – The seal of the "State Bank of Pakistan" appears at the bottom left portion.


[Submitted by Peter Symes – August 2005]

Pakistan

The State Bank of Pakistan is to issue a new 20-rupee note on 13 August 2005. Further details will be announced as they come to hand.
[Submitted by Yahya Qureshi – August 2005]

Bangladesh

On 31 July 2005 the Bangladesh Bank issued the 50-taka note signed by the new Governor, Mr. Salehuddin Ahmed.
[Submitted by Mohammed Islam – August 2005]

Pakistan

As of 1 July 2005 the 5-rupee notes issued in Pakistan are no longer legal tender. The 5-rupee notes have been replaced by a 5-rupee coin. The banks stopped issuing 5-rupee notes from 1 February 2005.
From late last year (around October 2004) The State Bank of Pakistan stopped stapling the 5- and 10-rupee notes. Therefore, the 5-rupee notes issue from October to February, without staple holes, could be regarded as a variety.
[Submitted by Peter Symes – July 2005]

Lebanon

Lebanon has placed 50.000- and 100.000-livre notes in reduced size into circulation.
[Submitted by Claudio Marana – July 2005]

Sudan

The Bank of Sudan has issued a 5,000-dinar note. Details of the note are awaited.
[Submitted by Murray Hanewich and Claudio Marana – July 2005]

Bangladesh

The 50-taka note has now appeared with the date of 2005. It continues with the older signature of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed.
[Submitted by Mohammed Islam – July 2005]

Djibouti and Tunisia

Djibouti issued a new 1.000 franc note in June. Tunisia issued a new 10-dinar note in July, similar to the previous issue, but it is brown.
[Submitted by Claudio Marana – July 2005]

Bangladesh

On 28 June 2005 the Bangladesh Bank issued a new 100-taka note with the signature of the new Governor, Mr Salehuddin Ahmed. All features are the same as the existing design with the exception of the western number '100' in the upper-left on the front of the note. This number is now printed completely in optically variable ink, whereas before the optically variable ink was used only on the top half of the number. This note has the series '2005'.
Another recent issue by the Bangladesh Bank is the 10-taka sereies 2005, with signature of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed. This note was first reported by collectors on 27 June 2005 [not the date of issue].
[Submitted by Mohammed Islam – June 2005]

Maldives

The new Maldives 100-rufiyaa note has some minor but interesting changes. The colours remain the same although back of the note has a lighter green printing (although this is only a very slight difference). The two major changes are the UV features. The 1995 note has UV border and UV security thread, while the 2000 dated note has additional UV ink with "100" appearing twice in "block form" over the security thread area. The security thread is also UV reflective on the 2000 dated note BUT "more so" than the 1995 note. The micro-printing "MMA" on thread remains the same.
[Submitted by Murray Hanewich – June 2005]

Lebanon

A new 5,000 Livres banknote was issued on 30 May 2005. The note features the same old design, but in a smaller size. The note carries the date of 22 November 2004 and is printed in Austria by Giesecke & Devrient GmbH.
[Submitted by C. Turko – June 2005]

Kuwait

The 5-dinar note has appeared with Signature 12, being only the second note to carry this signature.
Update: The one- and half-dinar notes now carry Signature 12.
[Submitted by Nazir Rahemtulla – April and June 2005]

United Arab Emirates

The 5- and 10-dirham notes are now issued with a date of 2004/1425.
Unconfirmed reports from the Emirates state that a version of the 200-dirham note will be released late this year. It is not understood whether this will be a simple date change or whether there will be significant changes to the note. Almost certainly, the modified watermark will appear and the format of the serial number will probably align with other notes in the current series. Other changes may be included.
[Submitted by Peter Symes – April 2005]

Algeria

An unconfirmed report states that the 1,000-dinar note has been issued with a date of 22 March 2005. It is understood that this note is similar to No.142 in the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money except that the symbol for African Union replaces the horned animal at the right.
[Submitted by Jean-Michel Engels – April 2005]

Iran

Two varieties of Iranian notes have been put into circulation: [Submitted by S.Kazem Ahadi, M.D. – March 2005]

Bangladesh

In December last year, we reported that Bangaldesh has made changes to its 500-taka note which constitute a new type. The changes to the old note concerned the use of optically variable inks on the notes. (See the 'News' page for 2004.)
At that time it was reported that the new issue appeared only with the date of 2004 on the back of the notes. It can now be confirmed that the notes also exist with 2003 on the back of the notes. The Bangladesh Bank has announced that this new variety of note was released on 24 October 2004, so it must be assumed that some notes that had been printed with the lithographic printing that includes the date of 2003, subsequently had the new intaglio print printed on them.
[Submitted by Erwin Beyer and Peter Symes – January 2005]

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