1/2 Dirham / 50 Fils - Hussein

Jordan's decimal coinage system — dividing the dinar into 1,000 fils — was introduced in 1949 under the Arab Legion's transitional administration, but the series bearing Hussein's effigy wasn't consolidated until the late 1960s after the catastrophic losses of the 1967 Six-Day War, which cost Jordan the West Bank and roughly half its agricultural economy. The Central Bank had been established only in 1964, replacing the Jordan Currency Board, and these mid-series issues reflect an institution still asserting its independent monetary footing.

Copper-nickel was chosen in part for its resistance to the arid circulation conditions of the region. The series ran through 1977, the year Hussein survived his ninth recorded assassination attempt.