10 Riyals - Saqr Dwight Eisenhower, Essai

Ras al-Khaimah's brief foray into commemorative coinage in 1970 was largely a revenue exercise aimed at foreign collectors rather than domestic circulation — the emirate had joined no monetary union yet and was issuing pieces with little practical monetary function. The Eisenhower essai sits squarely in that category. Struck as a pattern or trial piece, it was produced the same year the emirate was negotiating the terms of what would become the United Arab Emirates, a federation it famously refused to join at federation in December 1971, only acceding in February 1972.

Aluminium essais of this type were almost certainly never intended for circulation.