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1 Riyal 1966, Trucial Oman

in Krause book Number: 1a
Years of issue: 1966 - 1972
Edition:
Signatures: Chairman of the Currency Board: Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani
Serie: Serie 1960
Specimen of: 1960
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 110 x 55
Printer: Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company Limited, New Malden

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1 Riyal 1966

Description

Watermark:

watermark

Falcon.

falcon falcon

The saker falcon (Falco cherrug). This bird has a great emotional significance for the indigenous population.

There is an opinion, that the national bird of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar is not the Saker, but its hunting hybrid with Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus). However - The first successful results of obtaining a hybrid of gyrfalcon and saker were obtained in the early 1970s in Ireland, that is, when the national bird of the UAE was already identified and there were already circulating banknotes with the image of Saker Falcon. Today - indeed, this hybrid is popular in falconry in many countries, including the OAE and Qatar.

The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from eastern Europe eastwards across Asia to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia, the Arabian peninsula, northern Pakistan and western China.

The specific part of the scientific name, cherrug, comes from the Hindi name charg for a female saker. The common name saker comes from the (Arabic: صقر‎, translit. Ṣaqr‎) meaning "falcon".

Avers:

1 Riyal 1966

Dhow, oil derrick, palms.

Green intaglio printing, with a lithographic underprint of tinted vertical bands of green, red, violet and green (from left to right) and a multicoloured boss extending from top to bottom in the centre of the note.

The text on the face of the notes is written in Arabic and is split into four areas. In a panel at the top of the notes is the title of the issuing authority: 'The Qatar and Dubai Currency Board'. In the centre of the note is the value of the note in words, under which appears the legal tender clause. Finally, at the lower centre is the signature, which is that of Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani, and his designation, which is 'Chairman of the Currency Board'. (The signature is printed in black, while the designation is part of the plate printing.) The value of each denomination appears in small panels on each corner of the notes. On the reverse of each note the title of the Currency Board is written in English across the top of the note, with the denomination appearing in numerals in the centre and in the top two corners.

The serial numbers for all denominations consist of a prefix of the Arab letter 'C' (alif) over a number, followed by a six digit number. All serial numbers are printed in black and all numerals in the serial numbers are Arabic numerals. The serial numbers appear in the top right and bottom left of all denominations except the one riyal, where a single serial number appears in the centre of the note below the title of the issuing authority.

Under the Qatar-Dubai Currency Agreement, the new currency to be introduced was to be called the 'Qatar and Dubai Riyal'. It was defined to be equivalent to one and a half shillings sterling, have a parity of 0.186621 grammes of gold, and it was to be divided into one hundred dirhams. Orders for new coins and bank notes were placed with the British Royal Mint and Bradbury Wilkinson and Company Limited immediately after the signing of the Currency Agreement. However the situation in Qatar and Dubai was thrown into turmoil when the Indian Rupee was devalued on 6 June, some months before the new currency could be delivered.

The announcement of the devaluation of the Indian rupee caused a great deal of concern in the Gulf states, as it was not immediately apparent whether the devaluation applied to the 'Gulf rupees' as well as the Indian rupees. Following clarification from the Reserve Bank of India that the devaluation did affect the Gulf rupees, the Gulf states moved quickly to protect themselves from speculators, as the banks within the Gulf states were still exchanging the Gulf rupees for the pre-devaluation rates. Qatar halted all air travel into Qatar for several days, and the banks suspended trading in Indian and Gulf rupees until the ramifications of the devaluation could be fully understood. In order to protect their economies, the governments of Qatar and Dubai promised that, when possible, the Gulf Rupees would be exchanged for the new currency at pre-devaluation rates. However, in order to halt speculation in Gulf Rupees, it was deemed prudent to withdraw them from circulation in the two sheikdoms as soon as possible. To this end an agreement was made with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to borrow one hundred million Saudi Arabian riyals to provide a circulating currency prior to the arrival of the new Qatar and Dubai riyals.

Consequently the Gulf Rupees were withdrawn from circulation towards the end of June 1966 (ceasing to be legal tender in Qatar and Dubai shortly after), and Saudi riyals entered circulation. The use of Saudi riyals by Qatar and Dubai continued for a number of months, but by mid-September 1966 sufficient notes had been delivered from Bradbury Wilkinson and Company to allow the release of the new currency. So, on 18 September 1966, Qatar and Dubai riyals were made available to the public in exchange for Saudi riyals. The exchange rate for the replacement of Gulf Rupees by Saudi riyals had been 100 Saudi riyals for 106.5 Gulf rupees; and the new currency was now exchanged at the rate of 106.5 Qatar and Dubai riyals for 100 Saudi riyals. The total value of new bank notes placed in circulation during the period of exchange was 73,944,065 Qatar and Dubai riyals. (Mr.Peter Symes)

Revers:

1 Riyal 1966

Each reverse (an ll deniminations) carries an ornamental boss (which is distinct between denominations) and patterned lines.

Lithographic printing of green and violet.

Comments:

The Trucial States (Arabic: الساحل المهادن‎ As-Sāḥil al-Muhādin or المتصالح al-Mutaṣāliḥ; also known as Trucial Coast, Trucial Oman, Trucial States of the Coast of Oman, and Trucial Sheikhdoms) was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in south-eastern Arabia which had been known as the "Pirate Coast". The name derived from the territories whose principal sheikhs had signed protective treaties (also known as truces, hence 'trucial') with the British government from 1820 until 1892. They remained an informal British protectorate until the treaties were revoked on 1 December 1971. The following day six of the sheikhdoms (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah) formed the United Arab Emirates; the seventh – Ras Al Khaimah – joined the Federation on 10 February 1972.