Catalog
1/2 Dinar
| Issuer | Iraq Currency Board |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931-1932 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dinar (1931-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Brown intaglio print. "GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ" inscription across the top in bold lettering, with the fractional numeral 1/2 repeated in large format at left and right within oval guilloche frames. Central panel carries the denomination legend "1/2 DINAR" within a decorative cartouche, below which appears the issue date "1ST AUGUST, 1932" and the authority line "For the IRAQ CURRENCY BOARD", with three manuscript facsimile signatures of board members below. Printer's imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. at the bottom margin. |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Iraq Currency Board was a British-administered body established under the terms of the 1931 Iraq Currency Law, which came into force as Iraq prepared to join the League of Nations — a condition that required, among other things, a formalized monetary system independent of the Indian rupee. The Board operated from London, not Baghdad, and the Iraqi dinar it introduced was pegged at parity with sterling from the outset.
Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden facility handled the entire first series. The half-dinar denomination was the smallest note issued in that inaugural run, sitting below a public that had spent decades transacting in rupees and was largely indifferent to the new currency's prestige framing.