Reference Site for Islamic Banknotes

Items that made News in 2007

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Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia released their new 1-riyal note on 31 December 2007. This is the last note in the new series to be released.

[Submitted by Cristiano Fistarol — December 2007]

Maldives

The Maldives has issued the 5- and 10-rufiyya notes with dates of 2006/1427.

[Submitted by Peter Symes — November 2007]

Yemen

Yemen hs introduced a new 500-rial note, dated 2007. Apart from the new date, the date appears in a new location, the illustration of the building is positioned differently and there are changes to the image in the metallic strip.

[Submitted by Claudio Marana — October 2007]

Qatar

Qatar has introduced modifications to their 100- and 500-riyal notes. For these notes they have adopted the feature whereby a hole is cut in the centre of the note and plastic tape is applied to both sides of the note, creating a clear window with a pattern on the see-through area. (The pattern is applied to the tape.) It is not known when these notes were first placed into circulation, but they have been reported since October 2007.

[Submitted by Asad Rana — October 2007]

Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency released the new 500-riyal on Monday 17 September. This is the fifth note in the series to be issued, with the final note in the series, the 1-riyal note, to be issued in December.

[Submitted by Claudio Marana — August 2007]

Somaliland

Somaliland has issued the 500-shilling note with a date of 2006.

[Submitted by Peter Symes — September 2007]

Sudan

Sudan has released the 2-pound note of their new issue into circulation. This completes the new issue of notes.

[Submitted by Claudio Marana — August 2007]

Pakistan

There has been a lot of discussion in Pakistan about the depiction of the flag of Pakistan on the 1000-rupee notes. The following extracts from the media show the discussion that is taking place.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 8 (APP): A ruling coalition lawmaker, Rasheed Akbar Khan, Wednesday said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has printed a red flag on rupee 1000 currency note which should be replaced by Pakistan flag. Speaking in the National Assembly on a point of order, he said the SBP has committed a blunder by printing erroneous currency note with Turkish flag which should be immediately rectified.
"Pakistan’s flag is green while the red flag is that of Turkey. Action should taken against the person responsible for the error," Rasheed Akbar said.
Speaker National Assembly pointed out that the earlier practice of stapling the currency notes has also been replaced by tying them with rubber string, which makes it easier to remove some notes from a stack.
Omar Ayub, when asked by the speaker to take action on both the issues, said he will convey the message to the SBP and inform the house on Thursday.
But when the speaker said that since he was the minister for finance and the controlling authority, mere conveying of message to the SBP will not serve the purpose, Omar said the cabinet committee was already aware of these two issues.
Pervez Malik said the onus also rests on the cabinet committee which had approved the design of the note.
Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain later referred the matter to National Assembly’s standing committee on Cabinet Division and asked them to report to the House within one month after a thorough probe.


Our currency notes
THE State Bank has made a complete mess of our currency notes, which have been printed in deceptive and dull colours and in odd sizes.
The existing currency notes were already in good contrasting colours and in acceptable sizes.
If at all change of these notes was obligatory, then these could have been micro-sized only.
What is worse is that instead of Pakistan flag, foreign flags have been printed on these notes.
The white colour depicting minorities in our flag has disappeared from the discoloured flags printed on these notes.
The Turkish red flag with a crescent and star has been printed on the “new 1000-rupee note”.
Can we rectify these glaring errors, even if we cannot punish those responsible persons?
LT-COL (r) SYED JAMSHAID RAZA (Karachi)

Now only if the transition time b/w the new and the old would go over quickly. I'm getting tired of recognizing and carrying two different kinds of notes everywhere. The only note left now to be converted is the Rs. 50 one. Also, i hear a Rs. 20,000 note is in the pipeline too.

[Submitted by Mohammed Ameen — August 2007]

Sudan

Sudan has released the 20- and 5-pound notes of their new issue into circulation.

[Submitted by Claudio Marana — May 2007]

Saudi Arabia

The following information has been copied from the web site of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency:

Pursuant to Article (4) of the Saudi Currency Law, issued under the Royal Decree No. (6) and dated 1/7/1379 H., the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), is pleased to announce its intention to put in circulation the 5th Issue of the Saudi banknotes printed in the reign of the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The new issue includes banknotes of the following denominations:

  1. The Five Hundred Saudi Riyal Note.
  2. The One Hundred Saudi Riyal Note.
  3. The Fifty Saudi Riyal Note.
  4. The Ten Saudi Riyal Note.
  5. The Five Saudi Riyal Note.
  6. The One Saudi Riyal Note.
As scheduled, the new issue will be put in circulation gradually, starting with both the One Hundred and Fifty Saudi Riyal denominations. Both denominations will be available at SAMA branches as of Monday 4/5/1428 H (21/5/2007 G), followed by both the Ten and Five Saudi Riyal denominations as of the beginning of Rajab 1428H (July 2007), followed by the Five Hundred denomination as of the beginning of Ramadan Al Mubarak 1428H (September 2007), followed by the One Riyal after Eid Al Adha Al Mubarak 1428 H (December 2007 G), and will be equally legally binding side by side with the other Saudi banknote denominations currently in circulation. The new issue is characterized by various technical specifications and security features implemented by the most modern techniques used in banknote printing industry.

[Submitted by Mohammed Ameen, Zeeshan Ali and Murray Hanewich — May 2007]

Maldives

The Maldives has issued a new 500-rufiyaa note. Basically the same as the previous issue, the note is dated 2006 and has a wide windowed security thread. Interestingly, the note carries the signature of Qasim Ibrahim, the new Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority. His signature replaces that of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was the longest-serving Governor of a Central Bank anywhere in the world. (Although the longest-serving signatory remains Shaikh Khalifah bin Sulman al Khalifah of Bahrain.)

[Submitted by Claudio Marana amd Peter Symes — April 2007]

Iran

Iran is to introduce a new 50,000-rial note on 12 March 2007. The new high-denomination carries on its front a picture of the Islamic republic's founder, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which according to the law must be on all Iranian currency. The portrait is also used as the watermark.
The new banknote marks the country's achievements in nuclear technology at a time of mounting tension with the West over its atomic programme. On the back of the new note is a map of Iran and Persian Gulf, with the nuclear insignia of electrons in orbit around the atom on the middle of the map. Written on the back of the map in Arabic script is a quote that can be translated as 'If the science exists in this constellation, men from Persia will reach it' or alternatively 'Persians would acquire any knowledge even if it is in the sky' (i.e. seemingly unachievable). The quote is a saying (Hadith) from the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
The size of the note is 166 x 79 mm and is coloured predominantly orange. The notes carry the signature of Dr. Danesh Jafari and Dr.Ebrahim Sheibani (Sig. 33).

[Submitted by Dr.S.Kazem Ahadi, Paul Atkinson and Claudio Marana — March 2007]

Pakistan

The new 1000-rupee note was introduced into circulation on 26 February 2007, complementing the other denominations that have already been introduced in this series. A vignette of Islamia College, Peshawar, is printed on the reverse of the new banknote.

[Submitted by Mohammad Ameen, Iftikhar Ahmad, Claudio Marana and Mohammed Rizwan — February 2007]

Bangladesh

The following unofficial report concerning a new high denomination banknote for Bangladesh has been notified by bdnews24.com ...

Dhaka, Feb 6 (bdnews24.com) - The central bank plans to issue a banknote of Tk 1000 denomination to facilitate people carrying a lower number of notes.
The note is to bear the emblem of the Shaheed Minar on its one side and the Curzon Hall on the other. This note would be the first of its kind in Bangladesh.
"Initially we are working on the design of the note which we expect to issue within six months if the government approves," a senior official, preferring not to be named, told bdnews24.com, Tuesday.
He said that the central bank had taken the initiative considering the higher amounts people paid because of price spirals of essentials, and to give them the advantage of carrying a lower number of notes.
The official also said that some countries like India also have Rs 1000 notes.
The BB would seek the finance ministry nod following approval of its Board, the official added.

[Submitted by Mohammed Islam and Nat Denkin — February 2007]

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Bank will issue a new 2-Taka note on 27 January 2007. According to the Bank’s press release, this note is the same as existing notes except for three changes. This note is signed by Mr. Siddique ur Rehman Chaudhry, who was the Finance Secretary at the time the notes were printed. The other two difference are the Watermark and Security Thread, which are similar to these features on the current 10-Taka notes.

[Submitted by Mohammed Islam — January 2007]

Comoros

The new 5000-franc note has been introduced into the Comoros, complementing the other four denominations that have already been introduced.

[Submitted by Caludio Marana — January 2007]

Pakistan

The following press release was issued by the 'State Bank of Pakistan' on 19th January 2007.

STATE BANK ADVISES GENERAL PUBLIC NOT TO ACCEPT OLD RS.5/- BANKNOTE

The Federal Cabinet has decided to reintroduce banknote of Rs 5/- denomination and asked the State Bank to take necessary steps required in connection with the launching of the new note.
The general public is hereby forewarned that the old Rs 5/- bank note which was demonetized and withdrawn from circulation with effect from 1 st July, 2005 is not a legal tender. Therefore, the public should not accept the old note Rs 5/- note under any circumstances for day to day transactions or any other purposes.
It may be pointed out here that Rs 5/- coin will continue to remain in circulation as a legal tender.

[Submitted by Peter Symes — January 2007]

Sudan

Sudan issued a new series of banknotes on 9th Jauary 2007. The issue consists of 50-, 20-, 10-, 5-, 2- and 1-pound notes. In a conversion process, one Sudanese pound equals 100 Sudanese Dinars (which equates to 1,000 old Sudanese pounds).
On the web site of the Bank of Sudan the following are among the reasons given for currency change:

[Submitted by Peter Symes — January 2007]


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