25 Riyals - Rashid Albert Schweitzer, CuNi

Ajman, smallest of the Trucial States with a population barely in the thousands, briefly operated one of the most cynical mint programs of the twentieth century. From 1969 onward, the emirate issued coins with essentially no expectation of domestic circulation — they were produced for direct sale to collectors, generating hard currency revenue in advance of UAE federation. This piece, pairing a Gulf ruler's name with a German-Alsatian humanitarian, is exactly the kind of incongruous combination that defined the series.

Schweitzer died in 1965. The five-year lag before Ajman memorialized him on currency tells you everything about the program's priorities.