Coinage of Mauritania

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Map of Mauritania.

From Wikipedia:

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in north-west Africa. It is the eleventh largest sovereign state in Africa. The ancient Berber kingdom of Mauretania existed from the 3rd century BCE into the 7th century CE in modern-day Morocco and West Algeria. Prior to the Islamization of the country by Arab conquests in the 8th century, Mauritania was inhabited by nomadic Berbers from the 3rd century. Mauritania became a French colony during the European Scramble for Africa. Approximately 90% of Mauritania's land is within the Sahara; consequently, the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is slightly higher. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast, which is home to around one-third of the country's 4 million people. The country's official religion is Islam, with almost the entire population being Sunni Muslims. Arabic is the official language, with French also widely used due to its colonial history.

Despite an abundance of natural resources, Mauritania remains poor. The country's economy is based on agriculture and livestock, and major industries include mining (particularly iron ore), petroleum, and fishing.

After becoming independent from France in 1960, Mauritania's independence has been characterized by recurrent coups and periods of military rule, the most recent of which was in 2008 and led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, which he won. Mauritania has been criticized for its poor human rights record, including for Mauritania's continued practice of slavery, despite criminalizing it.

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Flag of Mauritania.

From Wikipedia:

The flag of Mauritania is a green field containing a gold star and crescent, with a red stripe at the top and bottom of the field. Green, gold and red are considered Pan-African colours. Green is also used to symbolise Islam, and the gold is for the sands of the Sahara desert. The red stripes, which were added to the flag in 2017, represent "the efforts and sacrifices that the people of Mauritania will keep consenting, to the price of their blood, to defend their territory". The crescent and star are symbols of Islam, which is Mauritania's state religion.

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Seal of Mauritania.

The seal features the crescent moon and the star of the Mauritanian flag.

A palm tree and a millet plant are superimposed on these.

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INTRODUCTION OF THE OUGUIYA

From Wikipedia:

The ouguiya, also spelled "ougiya", is the currency of Mauritania. Each ouguiya is subdivided into five khoums. The word khoums means "one fifth" and is both singular and plural: one khoums, many khoums. As such it is one of two circulating currencies, along with the Malagasy ariary, which does not use decimal subunits.

When the ouguiya was adopted in 1973, it replaced the CFA franc at a rate of 5 francs to 1 ouguiya. One khoums was therefore equal to one franc.

In 1973, coins of 1⁄5 (1 khoums), 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 ouguiya were introduced into circulation. That was the only year that the khoums was minted.

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Mauritania, one fifth of an ougiya, 1973.

⅕ ouguiya. Also known as 1 khoums.

This was the lowest denomination, minted in 1973 only.

Unlike the other coins in the series, it was made of aluminium.

The obverse showed the national emblem.

The reverse featured the star and the crescent between two ears of wheat.

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Mauritania, 1 ougiya, 1973.

The 1 ouguiya coin of 1973 was a one-year type only.

The reverse did not include the Arabic word for 'one', unlike the 1 ouguiya coin of 1974 onward.

The coin was made of aluminium-bronze.

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Mauritania, 1 ougiya, 1974.

The 1 ouguiya coin of 1974 included the Arabic word for 'one' on the reverse.

This was in addition to the numeral.

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Mauritania, 5 ougiya, 2003.

The 5 ouguiya coin was also made of aluminium-bronze.

It was issued up to and including the year 2003.


All the coin in the series had similar designs on the obverse and reverse.

The images here are not shown to scale.

The 5 ouguiya coin had a diameter of 25 mm, as opposed to 21 mm for the 1 ouguiya coin.

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Mauritania, 10 ougiya, 1999.

The 10 ouguiya coin was made of copper-nickel.

This type was issued up to and including the year 2003.

The coin had a diameter of 25 mm, the same as the 5 ouguiya coin.

However, the coin was of a different metal and colour.

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Mauritania, 20 ougiya, 19795.

The 20 ouguiya coin was made of copper-nickel.

This type was issued up to and including the year 2003.

The coin had a diameter of 28 mm.

It was the highest denomination of the series introduced in 1973 and 1974.

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Mauritania, 5, 10 and 20 ougiya, 2004.

In 2004 and 2005 the 5 ouguiya coin was minted in copper-plated steel.

From 2004 through 2013 the 10 ouguiya coin was minted in nickel-plated steel.

In 2004 and 2005 the 20 ouguiya coin was also minted in nickel-plated steel.

Otherwise, the coins retained the same designs and diameters as the previous versions.

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Mauritania, 1 ougiya, 2009.

In 2009 a new coin series was issued.

The 1 ouguiya coin was issued in nickel-plated steel.

The previous version had been made of aluminium-bronze.


The diameter of the coin was now 20 mm as opposed to 21 mm for the previous version.

Otherwise the obverse and reverse designs of the coin remained as for the 1973 version (see the earlier post).

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The obverse of the coins of 2009 and 2010.

In 2009 the 5 ouguiya coin was now minted in brass-plated steel.

Its diameter was reduced slightly from 25 mm to 24 mm.

In 2009 the 20 ouguiya coin became bimetallic.

It had a nickel-plated steel center within a brass-plated steel ring.

It weighed 6.9 g and had a diameter of 26 mm.

In 2010 a 50 ouguiya denomination was added for the first time.

It had a brass-plated steel center within a nickel-plated steel ring. 

It weighed 8.3 g and had a diameter of 28 mm.

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The reverse designs of the coins of 2009 and 2010.

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The 5 ouguiya coin of 2009.