Yemeni dinar

Yemeni dinar

الدينار اليمني Dinar
Ten dinar banknote
ISO 4217
Code	YDD
Unit
Plural	Dinars
Symbol	£‎
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄1000	fils
Banknotes	500 fils, £1, £5, £10
Coins	2+1⁄2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 250 fils
Demographics
Replaced	East African Shilling
Replaced by	Yemeni rial
User(s)	South Arabia (since 1965) South Yemen Yemen (till 11 June 1996)
Issuance
Central bank	Bank of Yemen
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The dinar (Arabic: دينار; sign: £) was the currency of South Arabia, and then South Yemen, and the Republic of Yemen after Yemen's monetary unification on 1 July 1990. It was one of the two official currencies used in Yemen until 11 June 1996. It was subdivided into 1000 fils (فلس).

History

The dinar was introduced in 1965 as the South Arabian dinar, replacing the East African shilling at a rate of 1 dinar = 20 shillings, thus setting the dinar initially equal to one pound sterling, it also used the pound sign as its Latin script symbol. It was renamed to the dinar after the independance of the People's Republic of Southern Yemen in 1967. The dinar was replaced with the Yemeni rial following unification with North Yemen in 1990. Dinar banknotes remained legal tender during a transitional period until 1996. The exchange rate during that period was £1 = 26 YER.

For a wider history surrounding currency in the region, see British currency in the Middle East.

Coins

In 1965, coins (dated 1964) were introduced for both the Federation of South Arabia and the Protectorate of South Arabia in denominations of 1, 5, 25 and 50 fils. The 1 fils was struck in aluminium, the 5 fils in bronze and the higher two denominations in cupro-nickel.

In 1971, coins were issued in the name of "Democratic Yemen", changing to the "People's Democratic Republic of Yemen" in 1973. That year, aluminium 2+1⁄2 fils were introduced, followed by aluminium 10 fils and cupro-nickel 100 and 250 fils in 1981. The 10 fils was scalloped shaped whilst the 100 fils was octagonal.

Image		Value	date
Obverse	Reverse
		10 fils	1981
		50 fils	1964
		50 fils	1979
		100 fils	1981
		250 fils	1981

Banknotes

On 1 April 1965, the South Arabian Currency Authority introduced notes in denominations of 250 fils, 500 fils, 1 dinar, and 5 dinars. A 10 dinar note was issued on 1 July 1967.

Image		Value	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse	Printing	Issue
		250 fils	Brown	Dhow boat with Port of Aden in background	Date Palm tree
		500 fils	Green	Dhow boat with Port of Aden in background	Date palm, wheat
		1 dinar	Blue	Dhow boat with Port of Aden in background Lettering: South Arabian Currency Authority This note is legal tender for One Dinar	Date palm and cotton Lettering: £1 د١
		5 dinars	Pink	Dhow boat with Port of Aden in background	Date palm, millet and cotton
		10 dinars	Black	Dhow boat with Port of Aden in background Lettering: South Arabian Currency Authority This note is legal tender for Ten Dinars	Date palm, cotton, maize and wheat Lettering: £10 د١٠

In 1984, the Bank of Yemen introduced 500 fils as well as 1 dinar, 5 dinar, and 10 dinar notes that are like the preceding issues of South Arabia, except the English text and printer's imprint have been removed from the front, the name of the issuer has changed and now appears on the back, along with the name of the capital (ADEN).

Image		Value	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse	Printing	Issue
		500 fils
		1 dinar
		5 dinars
		10 dinars

Preceded by: East African shilling Ratio: 1 dinar = 20 shillings = 1 British pound

Currency of South Yemen 1965 – 1990

Succeeded by: Yemeni rial Reason: unification with North Yemen to form Yemen Ratio: 1 dinar = 26 rials

References

• Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.