Ras al-Khaimah's early 1970s gold issues were essentially a revenue scheme — the emirate, poorest of the seven Trucial States and not yet part of the UAE federation, licensed its name to European coin dealers and mints to produce collector pieces with no meaningful domestic circulation. This 200 Riyal piece was struck in Italy, almost certainly at the Valcambi or a related contracted facility, and exported directly into the philatelic and numismatic trade market rather than ever entering the Gulf economy.
Ruler Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qasimi signed off on dozens of such issues between 1969 and 1972, before federation formalized monetary policy across the emirates and ended this particular arrangement.
Ras al-Khaimah's early 1970s gold issues were essentially a revenue scheme — the emirate, poorest of the seven Trucial States and not yet part of the UAE federation, licensed its name to European coin dealers and mints to produce collector pieces with no meaningful domestic circulation. This 200 Riyal piece was struck in Italy, almost certainly at the Valcambi or a related contracted facility, and exported directly into the philatelic and numismatic trade market rather than ever entering the Gulf economy.
Ruler Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qasimi signed off on dozens of such issues between 1969 and 1972, before federation formalized monetary policy across the emirates and ended this particular arrangement.