10 Riyals - Saqr Felice Gimondi

Ras al-Khaimah's early 1970s commemorative program was a frankly commercial operation — the emirate, not yet part of the UAE federation it would join in 1972, issued a flood of collector coins through European distributors with little pretense of domestic circulation. This piece honors Felice Gimondi, the Italian cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1965 as a last-minute replacement rider, then added the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España to become one of only five men to win all three Grand Tours.

The coins were sold directly to the philatelic and numismatic trade. Virtually none saw Ras al-Khaimah itself.