Iraqi dinar

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Iraqi dinar دينار عراقي (Arabic)
25,000 dinars banknotes 1972 25 fils coin
ISO 4217 Code	IQD
User(s)	Iraq
Inflation	50%
Source	The World Factbook, 2006 est.
Subunit
1/1000	fils
Symbol	ع.د
Coins	25, 100 dinar
Banknotes	50, 250, 500, 1000, 5000, 10000, 25000 dinar
Central bank	Central Bank of Iraq
Website	www.cbiraq.org

The dinar (Arabic: دينار, ISO 4217: IQD, pronounced: di-'när) is the currency of Iraq. It is issued by the Central Bank of Iraq and is subdivided into 1000 fils (فلس), although inflation has rendered the fils obsolete.

Contents 1 History 2 Coins 3 Banknotes 4 Iraqi dinar speculation 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History

The dinar was introduced into circulation in 1931, replacing the Indian rupee, which had been the official currency since the British occupation of the country in World War I, at a rate of 1 dinar = 13⅓ rupees. The dinar was pegged at par with the British pound until 1959 when, without changing its value, the peg was switched to the U.S. dollar at the rate of 1 dinar = 2.8 dollars. By not following the devaluations of the U.S. currency in 1971 and 1973, the dinar rose to a value of US$3.3778, before a 5% devaluation reduced the value of the dinar to US$3.2169, a rate which remained until the Gulf War, although in late 1989, the black market rate was reported as being five to six times (1.86 dinars for US$1) higher than the official rate.^[1]

After the Gulf War in 1991, and due to the economic blockade, the previously used Swiss printing technology was no longer available. A new, inferior quality notes issue was produced. The previous issue became known as the Swiss dinar and continued to circulate in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Due to excessive government printing of the new notes issue, the dinar devalued fast, and in late 1995, US$1 equalled 3000 dinars.

Following the deposition of Saddam Hussein in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi Governing Council and the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance began printing more Saddam dinar notes as a stopgap measure to maintain the money supply until new currency could be introduced.

Between October 15, 2003 and January 15, 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority issued new Iraqi dinar coins and notes, with the notes printed by De La Rue using modern anti-forgery techniques, to "create a single unified currency that is used throughout all of Iraq and will also make money more convenient to use in people’s everyday lives."^[2] Old banknotes were exchanged for new at a one-to-one rate, except for the Swiss dinars, which were exchanged at a rate of 150 new dinars for one Swiss dinar.

Although the value of the dinar appreciated following the introduction of the new banknotes from 4000 dinars per U.S. dollar, at the time of their introduction, to a high of 980 dinars per dollar, it is now held at a "program" exchange rate, as specified by the International Monetary Fund^{[citation needed]}, of 1449 dinars per US dollar at the Central Bank of Iraq. However, there is not yet a set international exchange rate and so international banks do not yet exchange Iraqi dinar. The exchange rate available on the streets of Iraq is currently around 1500 dinars per US dollar (April 2006).

Coins

Coins were introduced in 1931 and 1932 in denominations of 1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50 and 200 fils, with the 200 fils known as a rial. The 20, 50 and 200 fils were minted in silver. In 1953, silver 100 fils coins were introduced.

Following the establishment of the Iraqi Republic, a new series of coins was introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 fils, with the 25, 50 and 100 fils in silver until 1969. In 1970, 250 fils pieces were introduced, followed by 500 fils and 1 dinar coins in 1982. Coin production ceased after 1990.

In 2004, new 25 and 100 dinars coins were introduced:

Value	Diameter	Weight	Composition	Obverse	Reverse
25 dinars	17.5 mm	2 g	Copper plated steel	Enscriptions: "Central Bank of Iraq" and "25 dinars"	Outline map of Iraq
100 dinars	22 mm	4.3 g	Nickel plated steel	Enscriptions: "Central Bank of Iraq" and "100 dinars"	Outline map of Iraq

Banknotes

In 1931, banknotes were issued by the government in denominations of ¼, ½, 1, 5, 10 and 100 dinar. The notes were printed in the United Kingdom. From 1931 to 1947, the banknotes were issued by the Iraqi currency board for the government of Iraq and banknotes were convertible into pound sterling. From 1947, the banknotes were issued by the National Bank of Iraq, then after 1954 by the Central Bank of Iraq.

100 dinars notes ceased production in the 1940s but otherwise, the same denominations were issued until 1978, when 25 dinars notes were introduced. In 1991, 50 and 100 dinars were introduced, followed by 250 dinars notes in 1995 and 10,000 dinars notes in 2002.

Banknotes issued between 1990 and October 2003, along with a 25-dinars note issued in 1986, bear an idealized engraving of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Following the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq's currency was printed both locally and in China, using poor grade wood pulp paper (rather than cotton or linen) and inferior quality lithography (some notes were reputedly printed on presses designed for printing newspapers).

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. In 2002, the Central Bank of Iraq issued a 10,000-dinars banknote to be used for "larger, and inter-bank transactions". This note was rarely accepted in practice due to fears of looting and counterfeiting. This forced people to carry around stacks of 250-dinars notes for everyday use. The other, smaller bills were so worthless that they largely fell into disuse. This situation meant that Iraq, for the most part, had only one denomination of banknote in wide circulation.

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 change-over period, this currency was disendorsed by the Iraqi government. 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. During this time the Swiss dinar retained its value, whilst the new currency consistently lost value (sometimes at 30% per annum).

In 2003, new banknotes were issued consisting of six denominations: 50, 250, 1000, 5000, 10,000, and 25,000 dinar. The notes were similar in design to notes issued by the Central Bank of Iraq in the 1970s and 1980s. A 500 dinars note was issued a year later, in October 2004. In the Kurdish regions of Iraq, the 50 dinar note is not in circulation. All prices are rounded to the nearest 250 dinar.

Current banknotes are:

2003 Series
Value	Colour	Obverse	Reverse
50 dinars	Purple	Grain silos at Basra	Date palms
250 dinars	Blue	An astrolabe	Spiral minaret at Samarra
500 dinars	Bluish-Green	Ducan Dam on the Al Zab river	Assyrian carving of a winged bull
1,000 dinars	Brown	A gold dinar coin	Al-Mustansirya University, Baghdad
5,000 dinars	Dark blue	Gully Ali Beg and its waterfall	Desert fortress at Al-Ukhether
10,000 dinars	Green	Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham	Hadba Minaret at the Great Nurid Mosque, Mosul
25,000 dinars	Red	A Kurdish farmer holding a sheaf of wheat	Carving of King Hammurabi

Iraqi dinar speculation

Immediately after the issue of the new Iraqi notes, many schemes appeared promoting speculation in the new Iraqi dinar. These sites advertise heavily on conservative websites and magazines, and sell the Iraqi currency at a huge mark up. The websites promise profits of up to 1000%, but in fact no currency in history has ever appreciated 1000% against the United States dollar and a currency swing that severe would have negative consequences for Iraq's economy. Investment experts strongly oppose speculation in the Iraqi dinar.^[3]

Use Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
Use XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
Use OANDA.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

See also

• Economy of Iraq

References

External links

• Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi dinar
• Council on Foreign Relations: benefits of the new Iraqi dinar
• Sanctions on Iraq
• Central Bank of Iraq

v • d • e Currencies named dinar or similar
Circulating	Algerian dinar · Bahraini dinar · Iraqi dinar · Jordanian dinar · Kelantanese dinar (unofficial) · Kuwaiti dinar · Libyan dinar · Macedonian denar · Serbian dinar · Tunisian dinar
Obsolete	Abu Dhabi dinar · Bosnia and Herzegovina dinar · Croatian dinar · French denier · Krajina dinar · Portuguese dinheiro · Republika Srpska dinar · South Arabian dinar · South Yemeni dinar · Spanish dinero · Sudanese dinar · Yugoslav dinar
As subunit	Iranian rial
See also	Andorran diner · E-dinar · Islamic gold dinar · Swiss dinar

v • d • e Currencies of Asia
Central	Afghan afghani · Kazakhstani tenge · Kyrgyz som · Mongolian tugrug · Russian ruble · Tajik somoni · Turkmen manat · Uzbek som
East	Chinese yuan · Hong Kong dollar · Japanese yen · Macanese pataca · North Korean won · New Taiwan dollar · South Korean won
South-East	Brunei dollar · Cambodian riel · Indonesian rupiah · Lao kip · Malaysian ringgit · Myanmar kyat · Philippine piso · Singapore dollar · Thai baht · U.S. dollar (East Timor) · Vietnamese đồng
South	Bangladeshi taka · Bhutanese ngultrum · Indian rupee · Maldivian rufiyaa · Nepalese rupee · Pakistani rupee · Sri Lankan rupee
West	Armenian dram · Azerbaijani manat · Bahraini dinar · Cypriot pound · Egyptian pound · Georgian lari · Iranian rial · Iraqi dinar · Israeli new sheqel · Jordanian dinar · Kuwaiti dinar · Lebanese lira · Omani rial · Qatari riyal · Saudi riyal · Syrian pound · Turkish new lira · UAE dirham · Yemeni rial