History of Yemeni Money
Yemen has the distinction of being the last sizable nation in the world to issue its own paper money, the first issues of this nation of at least 21 million persons not appearing until 1964. Until fairly recently paper money did not circulate and was not accepted over most of the Arabian Peninsula, and not only Yemen but also Saudi Arabia were very late in issuing their own paper money, the first Saudi notes appearing only in 1953. Well into the 1950s two different trade coins dominated the currency in these countries. One was the gold sovereign weighing 7.98 grams and minted in 22 karat (0.9167 fine) gold. Most of these were minted in Great Britain or in South Africa, but in 1951 Saudi Arabia issued a large number of gold “guineas” that were at par with the British sovereign. The other coin that saw even greater circulation was the Maria Theresa thaler, which had been struck for many years in Austria, always with a frozen date of 1780. These coins each weigh 28.07 grams (about 5 percent more than an American silver dollar) and are struck in 0.833 fine silver. Demand for these coins has sometimes been so great that strikings were occasionally made in mints situated well away from Austria. Typically about a dozen Maria Theresa thalers would have been worth a gold sovereign, but this rate varied a bit depending upon the relative values of gold and silver. In Arabic the thaler is referred to as a riyal or rial, and this is the name used by both Yemen and Saudi Arabia for their currency units.
In 1926 the Imam Yahya (who ruled Yemen from 1904 to 1948) established a postal system and made improvements to the mint in Sana’a, the capital city of the Kingdom or Imamate of Yemen. Both silver rials and subsidiary coins were struck at the Sana’a mint, and Maria Theresa thalers were often used as planchettes for making the former. Such coins were referred to as imadi rials, and in Yemen these coins circulated alongside the thalers minted in Austria and elsewhere. The most significant subsidiary unit was the bogsha (or buqsha), a copper coin that was tariffed at 40 to the rial.In 1962 the Yemeni monarchy was overthrown in a military coup headed by Abdullah as-Salal. This revolution was strongly supported and backed by Egypt, but it was not entirely successful, since the Imam aI-Badr (the grandson of the Imam Yahya) was able to escape along with many of his followers and set up a rival Royalist regime in the far northern parts of Yemen. A civil war then ensued, and this lasted off-and-on until 1970 when all of Yemen came under the control of the Yemen Arab Republic.
The first coins of the YAR (Yemen Arab Republic) were silver rials and fractional parts that were struck at the Cairo mint. These, however, were struck in 0.720 silver and were about 30 percent underweight relative to the older coins that had circulated for many decades. At this time Yemen did not have anything equivalent to a central bank, but since the country was rigidly on a silver standard, there was no significant inflation. Within a year of issuing its first coins on a reduced standard, however, Yemen came out with its initial issue of paper money.
In 1964 the YAR was engaged in fighting a civil war against the Yemeni Royalists, and there were huge expenses both for the Republican regime and for the Egyptians who were supporting them. To help alleviate this fiscal crisis the YAR government resorted to issuing paper money. This was hardly the first time in history when a new regime engaged in a war has had to resort to issuing large amounts of paper money to help finance its cause. The Continental Currency that was issued by the United States (or rather by the Continental Congress of the United States) served the same purpose. But as is almost always the case, the issue of unbacked paper money to cover budget deficits will invariably lead to serious inflation, and that is indeed what did happen in the case of Yemen.
Between 1964 and 1973 the notes of Yemen were issued by a currency board that functioned within the Ministry of the Treasury in Sana’a. All of these notes bear the signature of the Minister of the Treasury of the YAR, and all were printed by the British securities firm of Bradbury Wilkinson. The first series consisted of notes for 1, 5, and 10 rials, and these both the arms on the YAR on their faces. They were undated, and this has been the case for nearly all Yemeni notes.
The Yemeni paper money was issued in a responsible fashion, but soon all silver coins were driven from circulation, and in 1966 it was necessary to supplement the first issue with fractional notes for 10 and 20 bogsha. On all of these notes the face was entirely in Arabic, while the back was inscribed “Arab Republic of Yemen” in English. The designs of the two fractional notes depicted artifacts from the pre-Islamic civilization of Marib on both sides, and typically the faces of most Yemeni notes have depicted pre-Islamic artifacts rather than more modern themes.
As a remote Middle Eastern country engaged in a civil war, there were very few visitors to Yemen in the 1960s, and hardly anyone thought of setting aside quantities of uncirculated notes of this vintage. Although these notes are fairly inexpensive in VG-F condition, they are decidedly scarce in uncirculated or even in XF-AU condition. Although paper rial was no longer at par with the silver rial, the serious inflation of this currency was not to occur until much later.
By 1970 the Yemeni civil war had ended, the Egyptians had pulled out, and the discredited as-Salal government had been replaced. In the previous year a new issue of 1, 5 and 10 rials notes was issued that closely resembled the original designs of 1964. Their backs were identical, but on their faces the YAR arms were replaced by vignettes of artifacts or old buildings. In 1971 these notes were supplemented by issues for 20 and 50 rials, reflecting the inflationary pressures that the country was experiencing at this time.
Getting a complete set of all 10 of the designs inscribed “Arab Republic of Yemen” in high grade will pose some problems. None of these notes were set aside in any quantity, and all can be regarded as scarce in top grade. For those who are interested in signature varieties the total rises to 13, but only the first three notes exist with a second signature type. These notes were issued in substantial amounts and all are inexpensive in heavily circulated grades, but finding them will still pose something of a challenge.
In 1973 the Central Bank of Yemen was established, and all Yemeni bank notes issued since then bear the designation of this bank on their backs. The basic style is the same as before. The faces are inscribed exclusively in Arabic, while the backs bear only the title of the bank and the denomination of the note in English. The serial numbers appear on the faces of the notes, and these are always in Arabic. All Yemeni notes are numbered blocks of one million, and thus there are six digits in each serial number block.
Beginning in 1974 the YAR also released into circulation large quantities of coins minted in cupronickel, brass, or aluminum, and for the one rial denomination there were both coins and notes in general use. Since the mid-1980s, however, this denomination was discontinued for paper notes. Five rial notes continued into the 1990s, but now this denomination circulates only as coins. The designs on the notes of the Central Bank of Yemen reflect many cultural aspects of this country. The faces of many of these notes depict artifacts (mostly statues or bas reliefs) of the ancient Sabaen kingdom, which flourished around the city of Marib between about 600 B.C. and 400 A.D. The backs of the notes often depict panoramic views of Yemeni cities – the capital Sana’a, the other major inland city Ta’iz, the ports of Aden and Mukalla, and the inland town of Shibam, which is famous for its “skyscraper” type buildings. Yemeni architecture is extremely distinctive, and in fact is found nowhere else in the world. A number of important individual buildings are also depicted on some of the notes.
For bank notes there seem to be two different size conventions. In the USA, Canada, and most of Latin America, the notes of different denominations all have the same size. For most of the rest of the world notes of higher values in a given series are almost always larger than are the notes of lesser value. For notes of the Central Bank of Yemen the note sizes have remained the same since 1973, but they do become progressively larger for the higher value notes. The one rial notes are 125 x 65 mm in size. For 20 rial notes this size increases to 145 x 73 mm. For the 50 and 100 rial notes the size is 149 x 76 mm. The 1,000 rial notes are the largest, and they measure 155 x 83 mm. The 200, 500, and 1,000 dal notes were not added until 1996, 1997, and 1998, respectively.
The YAR and the People’s Democratic Republic of (Southern) Yemen were merged in 1990, and the notes issued since then have often depicted scenes from each part of Yemen on their two sides. For instance, the current 500 rial note depicts the Palace of the Rock at Wadi Dhar in Northern Yemen on its face and the mosque of Tarim in the former Kathiri State in Southern Yemen on its back. The face of the 1,000 rial note depicts the former palace of the Kathiri sultan in Seiyun (now the Museum of Popular Culture), while the back of this note depicts the old city gate in Sana’a.
By 1990 the value of the Yemeni rial had fallen to about 12 to the dollar, but in the next few years the inflationary pressures on this country were to increase very much. At the time of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, Yemen held the “Arab” seat in the Security Council of the United Nations, and it took an ambivalent stand on expelling the Iraqis from Kuwait. This displeased both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia very much, and they retaliated by repatriating a large number of Yemeni workers from their countries once the First Gulf War had been concluded. Remittances from Yemenis working in more affluent parts of the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States are a very large factor in the Yemeni economy, and the loss of much of this income after 1990 has had a decidedly adverse effect on Yemen’s balance of trade.
As a result, the value of the rial began to fall rather sharply. In 1993 the “official” rate was set at 16.5 rials to the dollar, but the parallel market rate was more like 80 rials to the dollar. By the end of the 1990s the exchange rate for the rial was down to almost 200 to the dollar, and since that time its value has varied between about 180 and 200 to the dollar. There no longer is any distinction between an official and a parallel rate, but some currency controls do exist. In the near future Yemen may choose to issue higher value notes, since a 1,000 rial note currently has an exchange value of only about $5.00.
Collectors will find that most of the notes of the Central Bank of Yemen are fairly easy to obtain in CU condition. If all signature varieties and minor changes of design are taken into account, a total of 34 such varieties were issued between 1973 and 2004. The scarcest of these is probably the 100 rials note of 1976 that depicts a view of the city of Ta’iz on its back, but no modern Yemeni note can be considered a rarity.
Prior to 1990 there were two quite different regimes in southern Arabia. The Yemen Arab Republic occupied the same territory as the former Kingdom or Imamate of Yemen, while the former British Colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate were now termed the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). Up until 1967 the latter entity was under British control, and for many years Aden had served as an extremely important bunkering port on the sea routes connecting Europe with India and elsewhere in Asia. The Aden Protectorate itself consisted of about two dozen autonomous tribal states (or statelets), but the British failed in getting this complex to merge into a viable union. By the autumn of 1967 the entire region had fallen into the hands of the National Liberation Front, a radical Marxist movement that turned Southern Yemen into the first Marxist state in the Middle East.
Over the years the Aden Colony had used a variety of currencies. Its close ties with India resulted in its using the Indian rupee up to 1951. In that year it adopted the East African shilling as its currency with each East African shilling worth 14 U. S. cents or $2.80 to the pound. In 1965 a South Arabian Currency Authority was formed in order to issue and administer the currency for the short-lived Federation of South Arabia. One South Arabian dinar (equivalent to 1,000 fils) was the equivalent of a British pound or $2.80 in U. S. currency. Notes were issued for 250 and 500 fils and for one and 5 dinars. In 1967 a 10 dinar note was added. These notes were printed by Thomas de la Rue, and their sizes range from 133 x 70 mm for the 250 fils to 158 x 95 mm for the 5 and 10 dinar notes. All of these notes depict a view of Aden Harbor on their faces and a palm tree on their backs.
When the radically Marxist People’s Republic of Southern Yemen was formed in 1967, oddly enough it chose to continue using the South Arabian currency with its notes designed in a decidedly British Imperial style and printed by Thomas de la Rue. Only in 1984 were newly designed notes issued. These were issued in the name of the Bank of Yemen, Aden, and their designs are quite similar to the South Arabian notes. The only notable difference was that there was no 250 fils note in the 1984 series. By 1984, of course, the South Arabian dinar was no longer freely convertible into British pounds at par. Including signature types there would be a total of 15 different varieties of notes issued by both of the South Arabian regimes. The rarest of these is the South Arabian 10 dinar note of 1967, although the first signature variety of the 5 dinar note of this federation is also decidedly scarce.
By 1990 the political leadership in Southern Yemen had become a bit more moderate than was the case some years previously, and the voluntary merger of the two regimes was accomplished fairly smoothly. Although both the YAR rial and the PDRY dinar were “soft” currencies that were not freely convertible in international markets, an exchange rate of one PDRY dinar = 26 YAR rials was agreed upon. Despite this somewhat awkward rate, both currencies circulated side by side for the next three years. Since 1993 only the Yemeni rial has circulated. Currently the Central Bank of Yemen in Sana’a has sole authority for the issuance of Yemeni currency, and notes from 10 to 1,000 rials are presently in use. Given the fact that the exchange rate for this currency is roughly 200 rials to the dollar, however, it would seem sensible to replace at least three of the lower denominations with coins and to add notes for 5,000 and 10,000 rials at the high end.
In addition to the regularly issued notes of Yemen some of the series also include specimen notes and trial color proofs. For instance, the 1965 issues of the South Arabian Federation (i.e., the values of 250 fits up to 5 dinars) exist in specimen form. Bradbury Wilkinson prepared a number of trial color proofs for the Yemeni notes that it printed. The specimen notes of this firm generally have 000000 serial numbers and holes punched through the signature blocks. These have been recorded both for the Yemen Currency Board issues and the Central Bank issues up into the 1980s. The trial color proofs are usually printed in colors that are quite different from those used on the issued notes, and these are known on several different types of notes that were regularly issued in the 1960s up into the 1980s.
Although Yemen has a rich history that goes back well over 2,000 years, paper money has a much shorter history in this region. The British had used paper money in Aden for many decades, but prior to 1965 only notes from such places as India and East Africa circulated there. In Yemen proper there was no circulating paper money at all prior to 1964. Since the history of paper money in Yemen is a short one, it is still possible to assemble a comprehensive collection of these interesting notes.
