15 Riyals - Saqr 1970 World Cup

Ras al-Khaimah, the smallest and most northerly of the Trucial States, issued an extraordinary volume of commemorative coinage between 1969 and 1972 under Ruler Saqr bin Muhammad al-Qasimi — almost none of it intended for circulation. These pieces were produced almost entirely for the international collector and thematic coin market, a revenue stream that several minor Gulf sheikhdoms exploited aggressively in the years just before UAE federation rendered their independent monetary issues obsolete.

The 1970 FIFA World Cup, held in Mexico, provided the occasion. Ras al-Khaimah had no footballing connection whatsoever to the tournament.