1 Rial - Qaboos

Issued in the early years of Sultan Qaboos bin Said's reign, these gold rials were produced as the new government worked to establish Oman's independent monetary identity following the 1970 coup that deposed his father, Said bin Taimur. The elder sultan had famously suppressed modernization to the point of banning eyeglasses, radios, and foreign travel for ordinary Omanis — Qaboos's government moved quickly to signal a clean break, and commemorative and bullion coinage was part of that effort.

The .917 fineness places this squarely in the traditional crown gold standard. At 46.65 g, the coin contains just over 1.37 troy ounces of fine gold.