Coinage of Kuwait

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Map of the Arabian peninsula.




Map of Kuwait.

From Wikipedia:

Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is an Arab country in Western Asia. Situated in the northeastern edge of the Arabian peninsula at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. The name "Kuwait" is the diminutive of Arabic كوت kūt, meaning "fortress". The country covers an area of 17,820 square kilometers (6,880 square miles). As of 2022, Kuwait has a population of 4.45 million people, of which 1.45 million are Kuwaiti citizens, while the remaining 3 million are foreign nationals from over 100 countries.

After World War I, Kuwait emerged as an independent sheikhdom under the protection of the British Empire. Kuwait's oil fields were discovered in 1937. Kuwait gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1961. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded and annexed by neighboring Iraq. The seven month-long Iraqi occupation came to an end after direct military intervention by United States-led forces. Kuwait's infrastructure was badly damaged during the war and had to be rebuilt.

Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. It is often described as the most liberal country in the region. Kuwait City serves as the country's political and economic capital. The country has the world's fifth largest oil reserves and is the eighth richest country in the world per capita. Kuwait is classified as a high income economy by the World Bank and is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States.

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Flag of Kuwait.

The flag's colours were inspired by a poem:

White are our deeds
Black are our battles
Green are our lands
Red are our swords.


Safi al-Din al-Hilli wrote the poem.
He was a 14th-century Arab warrior poet.

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National Emblem of Kuwait.

The Emblem of Kuwait was adopted in 1962.

It consists of the shield of the flag design in color.

It is superimposed on a golden falcon (Hawk of Quraish) with wings displayed.


The falcon supports a disk containing a boom sailing ship, a type of dhow.

The full name of the state is written in Arabic at the top of the disk.

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Kuwait city, capital of Kuwait.

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INTRODUCTION OF THE KUWAITI DINAR

Kuwait gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1961. Before independence, Kuwait had used the Gulf rupee as its currency. The Gulf rupee was equal to the Indian rupee.

In 1961 Kuwait adopted the Kuwaiti dinar. It was equivalent to one UK pound sterling or 13 and one third Gulf rupees. The dinar is subdivided into 1000 fils.

The first Kuwaiti coinage was also introduced in 1961. Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 fils. The 1 fils coin is no longer issued. The obverse and reverse designs of the Kuwaiti circulation coins remain largely the same as in 1961. Only the metal content has changed.

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1 fils coin, 1961.  Obverse.

The 1 fils was the lowest denomination of the series.


It was made of nickel-brass.

It weighed 2 grams and had a diameter of 17 mm.


The series had a common obverse design.

It was the boom from the national emblem.


A boom is a medium-sized deep-sea dhow.

A dhow is a traditional Arabic sailing vessel.

See:  Dhows and other sailing boats.

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1 fils coin, 1961.  Reverse.

The coins all had a very plain reverse design.

EMIRATE OF KUWAIT appeared in Arabic at the top.

KUWAIT was shown in English at the bottom of the design.

Below the central numeral, 1 fils was shown in Arabic.

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5 fils coin, 1961.  Reverse.

The 5 fils coin was made of nickel-brass.

It weighed 2.5 grams and had a diameter of 19.5 mm.

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10 fils coin, 1961.  Reverse.

The 10 fils coin was made of nickel-brass.

It weighed 3.75 grams and had a diameter of 21 mm.

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20 fils coin, 1961.  Obverse.

The 20 fils coin was made of copper-nickel.

It weighed 3 grams and had a diameter of 20 mm.

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20 fils coin, 1961.  Reverse.

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50 fils coin, 1961.  Reverse.

The 50 fils coin was made of copper-nickel.

It weighed 4.5 grams and had a diameter of 23 mm.

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100 fils coin, 1961.  Reverse.

The 100 fils coin was made of copper-nickel.

It weighed 6.5 grams and had a diameter of 26 mm.

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AMENDED LEGENDS OF 1962

In 1962 Kuwait changed the legends on the reverse of the coins.

The word EMIRATE was removed from the Arabic script.

The legend then read simply KUWAIT.

This mirrored the English wording on the reverse.


The legends have remained that way since 1962.

Only the 1961 set included the word EMIRATE.

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The reverse of the 1 fils coin without EMIRATE.