1/2 Riyal / 50 Halalah - Fahd

Fahd bin Abdulaziz ascended to the throne in 1982 following the death of King Khalid, inheriting an economy still digesting the oil boom of the previous decade and already beginning to feel the squeeze of declining crude prices. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency — functioning as a central bank without ever being formally called one, largely to avoid conflict with Islamic prohibitions on interest-bearing institutions — oversaw this series through a period of considerable fiscal strain, including the economic disruptions of the Gulf War in 1990-91.

The dual denomination marking, 1/2 Riyal and 50 Halalah, reflects the parallel counting systems in everyday Saudi commercial use during this period.