UAE Reference Page | Serial Number Prefixes

Reference Site for Islamic Banknotes

Serial Number Prefixes for The United Arab Emirates

The bank notes of the UAE carry three styles of serial number prefixes.

Prefixes of the First Series

The serial number prefixes in the first series of notes issued in the UAE consist of a number followed by a letter; with the letter being a 'Denominational Letter'. The number increments as the series continues while the letter remains static. The serial number prefixes for the 5-dirham notes (No.2) increments in the following manner: ب٤ ,ب٣ ,ب٢ ,ب١, et cetera. The letters assigned to each denomination are done so using the numeric sequence of the alphabet.

Prefixes of the Second & Third Series

The format of the serial number prefixes for the second and third series is very similar to the first series. However, in the new format there is a '/' separating the number and letter, and the letters assigned to each denomination is done so in strict alphabetical order. An example of an incrementing serial number prefix is (for the 5-dirham note): ح/٤ ,ح/٣ ,ح/٢ ,ح/١, et cetera.

In the third series of notes, one serial number is printed in Arabic characters and one is printed in Western numerals. Within the string of numbers used for the serial number in western numerals, the first three numerals are the serial number prefix. An example of the two prefixes for the 5-dirhams note is: ح/٧ and 076. In this case, the ٧ equates to 07 and ح equates to 6 (as ح is the sixth letter of the Arabic alphabet).

The Numeric Sequence

The last few issues in the UAE have adopted a purely numeric prefix, but the third numeral (from the left) remains an identifier of the denomination. The serial numbers are again printed once in Arabic numerals and once in Western numerals. An example of the serial number prefixes incrementing is (for the 20-dirham note): ٠١٧ ‎(017), ٠٢٧ ‎(027), ٠٣٧ ‎(037), ٠٤٧ ‎(047), etcetera. Not all denominations currently have the new serial number format, but the numbers assigned to each denomination (i.e. the third numeral) are in the following chart. (* The 200-Dirham note is yet to have this format introduced.)

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