2 Rials Qadhi Azzubairi Memorial, gold issue

Issued by the Yemen Arab Republic in the immediate aftermath of the 1962 revolution that toppled the Mutawakkilite Kingdom, this gold commemorative honors Muhammad Mahmoud al-Zubayri, the poet and nationalist who became one of the revolution's intellectual architects — and who was assassinated in 1965 under circumstances that remain disputed. The YAR government used commemorative coinage in these early years partly as a legitimacy exercise, issuing gold pieces aimed squarely at foreign collectors and proof sets rather than domestic circulation.

At 42.29g in .900 gold, this was never a practical circulating denomination. The KM#4a designation distinguishes it from the silver counterpart struck to the same design.