by mandiberg

The Currency of Iraq: the Iraqi Dinar

The Iraqi dinar (pronounced: di-’när) is the legal currency of Iraq.

Old Iraqi dinar

The Iraqi dinar was introduced into circulation in 1931 and was at par with the Pound sterling. The Iraqi dinar replaced the Indian rupee that was the official currency at the time of the British occupation in World War I. After the 1958 coup d’etat, the Iraqi dinar was dissociated from the Pound sterling, but continued to have a very high value.

After the Gulf War in 1991 and due to the economic blockade and unrestricted printing of banknotes by the government, the dinar devalued fast, and in late 1995, equaled 3000 dinars.

Banknotes issued between 1990 and October 2003, along with a 25-dinar note issued in 1986, bear an idealized engraving of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Following the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq’s currency was printed using poor grade wood pulp paper (rather than cotton or linen) and inferior quality lithography.

Counterfeited banknotes often appeared to be of better quality than real notes. Despite the collapse in the value of the Iraqi dinar, the highest denomination printed until 2002 was 250 dinars.

Currency printed before the Gulf War was often called the Swiss dinar. It got its name from the Swiss printing technology that produced banknotes of a considerably higher quality than those later produced under the economic sanctions that were imposed after the first Gulf War. After a changeover period, the Iraqi government disendorsed this currency. However, this old currency still circulated in the Kurdish regions of Iraq until it was replaced with the new dinar after the second Gulf War.

New Iraqi dinar

Between October 15, 2003 and January 15, 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority issued the new Iraqi dinar to “create a single unified currency that is used throughout all of Iraq.

The Hampshire-based Company “De La Rue” printed the New