Common motifs on the Arab coins of West Asia

[<k>]

Qatar and Dubai.  Gazelle.

Common reverse of the Qatar and Dubai coinage, first issued in 1966.




United Arab Emirates, 25 fils, 1973.
Relatively few of the West Asian Arab states have used modern thematic designs on their coins: I would list the UAE, Syria and Yemen as meeting the criteria, and maybe (just) the defunct People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. I wouldn't really count the coinage of the Qatar and Dubai currency union, simply because the same design grace all the reverses. However, it's interesting that both "Qatar and Dubai" and subsequently the United Arab Emirates (of which Dubai is now a part) chose to depict an Arab dune gazelle (Gazella leptoceros).

[<k>]

Let's see how the obverses of some of the coinages compare with one another.



Qatar obverses 1973.




Qatar 2006 obverses.
 



Bahrain obverses.



 
United Arab Emirates obverses.




Qatar and Dubai 10 dirhams 1966.

[<k>]

When comparing Arab coins, look at the following:

1] The country name. Is it shown in Arabic, in English, or both?

2] The year. Is the CE year shown, in addition to the AH year?

3] Numerals:

a) Is the AH year shown in Arabic script, in European numerals, or both?

b) Is the CE year (if given) shown in Arabic script, in European numerals, or both?

c) Are the denominational numerals shown in Arabic script, in European numerals, or both?

d) Is the denominational unit (fils, dirham, etc.) shown in Arabic script, in the Latin alphabet, or both?


The first page of the following topic looks at some of those issues with regard to the coins of modern Arab countries:

Modern states whose coins lack a European alphabet country name.

[<k>]

Here is another subject worth looking at, with regard to Arab coins:

Single heraldic birds on state arms

Usually the birds, where present, are eagles, and they look rather different from the heraldic eagles of other parts of the world.