Saudi riyal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Saudi riyal ريال سعودي (Arabic) |
|||
|
|||
| ISO 4217 Code | SAR | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| User(s) | Saudi Arabia | ||
| Inflation | 1.9% | ||
| Source | The World Factbook, 2006 est. | ||
| Pegged with | U.S. dollar = 3.75 riyals | ||
| Subunit | |||
| 1/100 | hallalah | ||
| Symbol | ر.س (Arabic), SR (Latin) | ||
| Coins | 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 hallalahs | ||
| Banknotes | 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 riyals | ||
| Monetary authority | Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency | ||
| Website | www.sama-ksa.org | ||
The riyal (Arabic: ريال, ISO 4217 code: SAR) is the currency of Saudi Arabia. It is abbreviated as ر.س or SR. It is presently subdivided into 100 halala (Arabic: هللة).
Contents |
[edit] History
The riyal has been the currency of Saudi Arabia since the country came in to being and was the currency of Hejaz before Saudi Arabia was created. The Hejaz riyal was based on (though not equivalent to) the Ottoman 20 kuruş coin and was consequently divided into 20 ghirsh. However, although the Hejaz riyal was the same weight as the Ottoman 20 kuruş, it was minted in .917 fineness, compared to .830 fineness for the Ottoman coin. Thus, because the first Saudi riyal had the same specifications as the Hejaz riyal and circulated alongside Ottoman coins, it came to be worth 22 Ottoman kuruş and was consequently subdivided into 22 ghirsh when coins denominated in ghirsh were issued from 1925. This remained the system of currency even though the riyal was subsequently debased to a coin equivalent in silver content to the Indian rupee in 1935.
Note that the Latin alphabet spelling "ghirsh" rather than "qirsh" reflects the pronounciation in Saudi Arabia, whilst in the Arabic script the spelling was the same as used elsewhere, قرش.
In 1960, the system was changed to 20 ghirsh = 1 riyal and this was followed in 1963 by the introduction of the halala, worth one hundredth of a riyal. Some Saudi coins still bear denominations in ghirsh but this denomination is no longer commonly used.
[edit] Coins
In 1925, transitional, copper coins for ¼ and ½ ghirsh were minted in Mecca by `Abd al-`Azīz Āl Sa`ūd. These were followed, in 1926, by ¼, ½ and 1 ghirsh pieces minted in cupro-nickel, carrying the title "King of Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd".
In 1927, the royal title was changed to "King of Hejaz and Nejd and Dependencies" and coins were issued in denominations of ¼, ½ and 1 ghirsh in cupro-nickel and ¼, ½ and 1 riyal in silver.
In 1935, the first coins were issued in the name of Saudi Arabia. These were silver ¼, ½ and 1 riyal coins which were nearly 50% lighter than the previous issue. Cupro-nickel ¼, ½ and 1 ghirsh were also issued from 1937. In 1946 (AH 1365), many of the cupro-nickel coins were countermarked with the Arabic numerals 65 (٦٥) in what Krause and Mishler describe as "a move to break money changers' monopoly on small coins". Cupro-nickel 2 and 4 ghirsh were introduced in 1957.
In 1963, the halala was introduced and bronze 1 halala coins were issued. This was the only year these coins were struck. Cupro-nickel 5, 10, 25 and 50 halala followed in 1972. These coins are also inscribed with their denomination in ghirsh or riyal (1, 2 ghirsh, ¼, ½ riyal). In 1976, cupro-nickel 1 riyal coins were introduced, which are also inscribed with the denomination 100 halala. Bimetallic 1 riyal coins were issued in 1999.
[edit] Banknotes
In 1953, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) began issuing Haj Pilgrim Receipts for 10 riyals [1], with 1 and 5 riyals following in 1954 and 1956, respectively. These resembled banknotes and were initially intended for use by pilgrims who exchanged foreign currency for them. However, they became widely accepted in Saudi Arabia and largely replaced silver riyal coins in major financial transactions. Consequently, the Monetary Agency began issuing regular banknotes for 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 riyal in 1961, with the Pilgrim Receipts being demonetized in 1964.
500 Riyal notes were introduced in 1983. 20 and 200 riyal banknotes were issued in 2000 to commemorate the centennary of the founding of what became the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
[edit] Fixed exchange rate
In June 1986, the riyal was officially pegged to the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). In practice, it is fixed at 1 U.S. dollar = 3.75 riyals, which translates to approximately 1 riyal = 0.266667 dollar.[1][2] This rate was made official on January 1, 2003.
| Use Yahoo! Finance: | AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY |
| Use XE.com: | AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY |
| Use OANDA.com: | AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD CNY |
Note: Rates obtained from these websites may contradict with pegged rate mentioned above
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Saudi Arabia’s Exchange Rate Arrangement
- ^ In this special feature Central Banking presents a survey of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
-
- Chester L. Krause & Clifford Mishler (1991). in Colin R. Bruce II: Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801-1991, 18th ed., Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-150-1.
- Albert Pick (1994). in Neil Shafer & Colin R. Bruce II: Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, General Issues, 7th ed., Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
[edit] External links
- Don's World Coin Gallery - Saudi Arabia
- Ron Wise's World Paper Money - Saudi Arabia Mirror site
- Tables of Modern Monetary Systems by Kurt Schuler - Asia Mirror site
- The Global History of Currencies - Saudi Arabia
- Global Financial Data currency histories table
- Riyal banknote series From the first edition to the special edition. Does not include newer releases such as the new 100 and 500 rial banknotes with enhanced security features.
- Amended 500-Riyal put in circulation
- http://www.islamicbanknotes.com/
|
|
|
|---|---|
| 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 |
![[1]](http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/banknotes/saudi_arabia/SaudiArabiaP1-10Riyals-(1953)-donatedcz_f.jpg){kind=link}