Catalog
100 Baiza
| Issuer | Muscat and Oman Currency Board |
|---|---|
| Year | 1970 |
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| Printer | Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, United Kingdom (1856-1990) |
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| Obverse description | Brown and blue-green note with a fine guilloche underprint across the centre field. The national arms of Muscat and Oman — crossed khanjar daggers over two crossed swords — appear in an intaglio vignette at the right. Arabic inscriptions give the issuing authority and denomination, with the legend مائة بيسة (One Hundred Baiza) in large script at centre; the serial number is printed twice in contrasting colours at upper left and lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 100 BAIZA SULTANATE OF MUSCAT AND OMAN |
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| Comments |
Pick 1 marks the first standardized paper currency issued in what had been, until 1970, one of the most financially isolated states in the world. Sultan Said bin Taimur had resisted paper money for decades; it was his son Qaboos, after the July 1970 palace coup, who moved quickly to establish the Currency Board and bring Oman into the modern monetary system.
Bradbury Wilkinson produced the full inaugural series. The 100 Baiza is the lowest denomination of that founding set — fractional, almost transitional in purpose, bridging the old Indian Gulf Rupee arrangements that had informally served the territory for years.