Bradbury Wilkinson printed this series during a period when the Yemen Arab Republic was still consolidating institutions following decades of imamate rule and the civil war that consumed the 1960s. The Central Bank itself had only been established in 1971, making this among the earliest standardized currency issues it commissioned. BW's New Malden facility handled a significant share of Middle Eastern government contracts in this period, and the workmanship is characteristically precise.
The P-16B reference in the catalog note flags a meaningful distinction: later printings show a clearer underprint on the face, which collectors have used to separate emission runs. P-11 examples without that refined underprint are the earlier state.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed this series during a period when the Yemen Arab Republic was still consolidating institutions following decades of imamate rule and the civil war that consumed the 1960s. The Central Bank itself had only been established in 1971, making this among the earliest standardized currency issues it commissioned. BW's New Malden facility handled a significant share of Middle Eastern government contracts in this period, and the workmanship is characteristically precise.
The P-16B reference in the catalog note flags a meaningful distinction: later printings show a clearer underprint on the face, which collectors have used to separate emission runs. P-11 examples without that refined underprint are the earlier state.