Reference Site for Islamic Banknotes

Bahrain: No.21b Ten dinars

First issued — Unknown.
Size — 143 mm x 71.5 mm.
Signature — Sheikh Khalifah bin Sulman al Khalifah.
Watermark — The head of an oryx.
Security thread — Wide, windowed thread with no micro-printed text.
Printer — Thomas de la Rue and Company.
Illustration — A two-masted dhow under full sail. Strangely, the word ‘Dhow’ is foreign to the Arabian Gulf and its origins are unknown. However, the word is now commonly used to refer to any sailing vessel. Boat-building in Bahrain has a long history, and there are many types of traditional sailing vessels that have been built on the islands. In former days the planks of the vessels were sewn together, but in later times were nailed. In modern times the types of boats which have been constructed are those which lend themselves to the addition of an engine. Some of the different types of vessels built in Bahrain were:

• Jalibut—These boats have a vertical bow and a straight keel, and are the type of boat most commonly to have an engine. (The boats on the front of the first series of notes and the boat on the left of the illustration on the back of the first 5-dinar note are jalibuts.)
• Sambuq—Most commonly used for pearling boats, this vessel has a long finely curved bow and a square stern. It has two masts and is usually has a full deck. (The vessel on the front of the 10-dinar note in the third series is a sambuq.)
• Shu’ai—Similar to the Sambuq, but it has a different shape to the stem piece (the timber section to which the planks join at the front of the boat).
• Baghala—It has a short curved stem-piece and a distinctive square stern set with windows, which are often false. This design gives them an image of being an old European man-o-war (on which their design was probably based).