IRAQI COINS & CURRENCY
Armies have been fighting over what is now Iraq for much of the
areas long history. We are pleased to offer this selection
of coins from this historic and bloody land.
BEAUTIFUL
HIGH-GRADE UMAYYAD SILVER DIRHAMS
The
Umayyad (Omayyad) Empire was first and greatest of the Muslim Empires,
stretching from Afghanistan to southern France. The principal
mint for
silver Dirhems for the empire was in Wasit, in what is now Iraq. We are
pleased to offer two outstanding silver Umayyad Dirhems: Caliph
Sulayman (Suleiman) reigned briefly from 715 to 717AD. His army
suffered heavy losses in an unsuccessful attempt to conquer
Contstantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, in 717AD. Under
the reign of Caliph Hisham, who ruled from 724 to 743AD,
the
Empire reached its greatest extent, when the Muslim advance into Europe
was finally decisively halted at Poitiers, France in 732AD.
Unlike
many later Islamic issues, the coins were well struck. In keeping with
Islamic tradition, the coins do not have any images but instead feature
beautiful calligraphy of Islamic invocations of Faith. The coins grade
Very Fine or better.
Item
C-UMM-SUL UMAYYAD SILVER DIRHAM, SULAYMAN 715-717AD
XF $37.50
Item
C-UMM-HISHAM UMAYYAD SILVER DIRHEM OF HISHAM 724-743AD
VF $27.50
THE COINS OF SADDAM
This attractive set includes the 5, 10, 25 and 50 Fils coins of Iraq
dating
from 1975 to 1990, while Iraq was under the control of Saddam
Hussein..
In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, sparking the First Gulf War. No further
Iraqi
coins were issued for circulation until the recent Iraqi elections due
to
United Nations sanctions and the subsequent invasion by the United
States.
The coins feature a plantation of Date Palms. The 5 and 10 Fils
have
scalloped edges and are struck in Stainless Steel. All four coins
are
Uncirculated.
Item L-IQ-SET4 IRAQ 4 COIN SET 1975-1990
UNC.
$4.75
Item L-IQ-SET4x10 10
of the above IRAQ 4 COIN SETS, UNC. $37.50
GULF WAR NOTES OF IRAQ
We are pleased to offer two Iraq notes that were issued during
and immediately after the First Gulf War. The 1990 25 Dinar note
was introduced at the time of the First Gulf War. It pictures three
Arabian horses on the front and the Abbaside Palace on the back. At the
time, the note was the highest denomination in circulation at the time.
and had an official exchange rate of over $75! In 1990 the
previous 25 Dinar note was rapidly withdrawn, demonitized and replaced
with this in order to "discourage hoarding and currency
speculation". Declaring its currency to be worthless was also a
cheap way for the Iraq government to try to finance its war effort.
The second note is the 1995 250 Dinar note picturing Saddam
Hussein. Inflation was taking a serious toll on Iraq, so this
new, higher denomination was needed. At the time it was issued,
it was the higherst denomination in circulation. The reverse of the
note shows the Friese from the Liberty Monument in Baghdad.
Because of the United Nations embargo, the notes were
printed locally on an offset press and lacked the anti-counterfeiting
devices found on most banknotes today. Both
notes are Uncirculated, and
make quite an interesting set.
Item PM-IQ74 IRAQ 25 DINARS 1990 HORSES -
GULF WAR
ISSUE (P74) CU $2.00
Item
PM-IQ85 IRAQ 250 DINARS 1995 SADDAM (P85) CU $2.50
Item PM-IQ85x10 10 of the
above IRAQ 250 DINARS NOTES, CU $15.00
U.S.
OCCUPATION NOTES FOR IRAQ
Iraq recently released new currency to replace the existing notes
picturing Saddam Hussein and the older notes that circulated in the
Kurdish areas. In order to accelerate the introduction of the new
notes, the new notes simply reused designs that had been used on
earlier pre-Saddam issues, changing only the denomination, color
and date of the note. The new 50 Dinar note features a ship being
loaded with grain from elevators on one side of the note and palm trees
on the other. The design was originally used on the 1973 1/4
Dinar. The 250 Dinars note features a medieval astrolabe on one
side and the ancient Minaret of Samaria on the other. The design
is taken from the 1/2 Dinar notes issued in 1980 and 1993. The
new 1000 Dinars note shows a medieval Abbasid gold Dinar and the
Musanteriah School in Baghdad. The Abbasid gold Dinar was one of
the most widely trusted currencies in the world during the 8th and 9th
centuries. The design comes from the 1 Dinar note issued from
1979 to 1992. All three notes are dated 2003. The new notes
have been widely accepted within Iraq and the value of the Iraqi Dinar
has climbed substantially against the dollar.
Item PM-IQ-2003 SET OF 3 NEW IRAQ NOTES, 50, 250
and 1000 DINARS 2003 CU $5.00
Item PM-IQ-1000D IRAQ 1000 DINARS 2003 picturing
gold coin from above set CU $2.50
RECENT 3 COIN SET FROM IRAQ
Iraq released three 2004 dated
coins: a 25, 50 and 100 Dinar. They are the first coins issued
since for circulation since the First Gulf War in 1990 and were issued
as part of America’s plan to bring stability to the country. The
coins have a very simple design. One side shows a map of Iraq,
showing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the date in both the AH and
AD Calendar. The other side shows the denomination and
inscriptions in Arabic. The 25 Dinars is copper plated-steel, the
50 Dinars is brass plated steel and the 100 Dinar is nickel-plated
steel.
Item
IQ-SET3 IRAQ 25, 50 & 100 DINAR COINS 2004, UNC.
$3.50
RARE SPELLING ERROR ON KURDISTAN COIN
In expectation of Kurdistan gaining independence from Iraq after the
second Gulf War, Kurdish groups in exile authorized the first modern
coins of Kurdistan. When the initial 1 and 10 Dinar coins were
struck, Kurdish officials discovered that the name of the country was
misspelled using the Arabic alphabet. To the untrained eye, the
difference is that the correct version has two
squiggly marks in the bottom of the legend on the coin while the error
version
has only one mark. Only 300 pieces of each of the error version
were
struck. A new die was prepared and a corrected version was
issued.
Unfortunately the United States did not allow Kurdish independence, so
this
remains a government in exile issue. The 10 Dinar coins are 39mm in
diameter,
are struck in copper-nickel and picture a Persian Fallow Deer. It has a
catalog
value of $45.00, however our price is MUCH less. The 1 Dinar coins are
27mm
in diameter, are struck in bronze-plated zinc (similar to the U.S.
cent)
and picture Saladin on horseback
carrying
a modern Kurdish flag. It has a catalog value of $35.00, however our
price
is MUCH less.
Item KURD10ERR KURDISTAN 10 DINARS 2003 ERROR
VERSION, (Br.X2.1) UNC. $15.00
Item KURD1ERR KURDISTAN 1 DINAR 2003, ERROR
VERSION (Br.X1.1), UNC. $12.50
KURDISTAN COIN SET
Kurdistan is not (yet) a country; it is still divided between Iraq,
Turkey, and Syria, however that has not stopped it from issuing
coins. This latest set of seven base metal coins is quite
attractive. The five lower denominations feature native wildlife. The
copper 25 Dinar shows a Grey Partridge. The brass 50 Dinars
pictures a European Grey Heron, The copper-nickel 100 Dinar shows a Red
Fox. The eight-sided copper-nickel 250 Dinars shows a Eurasian
Lynx. The copper-nickel 500 Dinar shows a wild goat. The
1000 Dinar shows Mustafa Barzani, a charismatic Kurdish nationalist
leader who died in 1979. The 2500 Dinar is an attractive
and unusual square bi-metallic coin with a copper outer ring and a
brass inner plug. It features an oil refinery in Kirkuk. We offer
this coin individually and as part of the complete set. All coins are
dated 2006 and feature the Kurdish arms featuring the sun over the
mountains on the reverse.
Item KURD-SET7 KURDISTAN 7 COIN SET 25-2500 DINARS,
2006
UNC. sold out
Item KURD-2500 KURDISTAN SQUARE BIMETAL 2500 DINARS
from
the above set,
UNC $9.95
NOTE: All
pictures are of a typical item taken
from stock. Because we have multiples of most items, the item you
receive may not look exactly the same as the picture, however it will
be as described.
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