5 Dinars

The Bahrain Currency Board was established in 1964 specifically to replace the Indian rupee, which had circulated in Bahrain as legal tender under the Gulf Rupee system. When India devalued the external rupee in June 1966, Bahrain's own currency — already issued by that point — insulated the country from the damage that hit neighboring Gulf states still dependent on the Indian instrument.

Thomas De La Rue produced the entire inaugural series, as they did for the majority of newly independent Gulf states during this period. The 1964 date on this note marks the authorization year, not necessarily the precise print or release date — the actual introduction to circulation came in 1965.