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5 Dinars

Issuer Central Bank of Iraq
Year 1959
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Currency Dinar (1931-date)
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Reverse description Central vignette in intaglio shows the god Shamash seated on a throne presenting the code of laws to the standing figure of King Hammurabi, a scene derived from the famous stele now in the Louvre. A large circular guilloche rosette fills the left field beside the denomination in English. The bank name and value appear in English lettering across the upper register, with ornate scroll borders and numeral 5 cornerpieces framing the composition.
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Protection description King Faisal II portrait, visible when held to light
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Comments

The 1959 series was the first coinage of the newly proclaimed Iraqi Republic, issued less than a year after the July 1958 revolution that overthrew the Hashemite monarchy and executed King Faisal II. Replacing a currency that bore royal imagery required speed; Bradbury Wilkinson, long experienced with colonial and post-colonial transition issues across the Middle East, was the natural choice for a government needing competent work quickly.

Bradbury Wilkinson's New Malden facility produced the bulk of Iraq's mid-century paper currency, and the relationship predated the republic — continuity of printer across a regime change says something about how few firms could meet the security and volume requirements of a national issue.

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