UAE dirham

Dirham history

The UAE is a federal monarchy consisting of 7 emirates. Each emirate, in turn, is an absolute monarchy. The president of the UAE is traditionally the sheikh of the largest emirate, Abu Dhabi. The position of prime minister is assigned to the sheikh of the second largest emirate, Dubai. The highest governing body is the Supreme Council of the Union, consisting of seven sheikhs of all seven emirates.

After gaining independence, the task of establishing a national currency of the United Arab Emirates arose. It was decided to name the local currency in honor of the ancient Arabic coin - the dirham, consisting of 100 fils. The issuer of the dirham was the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. The first issue of coins and banknotes of the UAE took place in 1973. The dirham replaced the Indian rupee , the Persian Gulf rupee, the Saudi riyal , the money of Bahrain and Qatar.

The first issue of the dirham included coins in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 fils, as well as 1 dirham. The 1, 5 and 10 fils were minted in bronze, while the higher denominations were minted in copper-nickel.

The 1 dirham coin depicts a traditional Arabic coffee pot, the dallah, which is a symbol of the UAE. It is in this vessel, and not in a Turk, that the Arabs brewed and brew their favorite drink – coffee.

UAE dirham coins with values

Circulation coins

1 dirham 1996-2012

Commemorative coins

All UAE coins