Catalog
5 Rials Saidi
| Issuer | Sultanate of Muscat and Oman |
|---|---|
| Year | 1970 |
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| Printer | Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, United Kingdom (1856-1990) |
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| Obverse description | Purple and blue note with an ornate guilloche border framing the entire face. The national arms of Muscat and Oman — crossed khanjar and swords within a circular vignette — appear to the right of centre, set against a fine engine-turned underprint. Arabic inscriptions give the issuer name سلطنة مسقط وعمان at the top and the denomination ريال سعيدي ٥ in the centre, with serial numbers printed above and below in Arabic-Indic numerals. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large intaglio vignette of Nizwa Fort occupies the centre of the reverse, its massive cylindrical tower and surrounding walls rendered in fine line engraving against a landscape of palm trees and distant hills. Denominational panels reading "5 RIALS SAIDI" appear in the upper left and upper right corners within the ornate purple guilloche border. The English inscription SULTANATE OF MUSCAT AND OMAN runs along the lower margin in serif capitals. |
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The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman issued this note in the final year of Said bin Taimur's rule — a reign so deliberately isolated that the country had almost no paved roads, a handful of schools, and a de facto ban on eyeglasses and radios. The currency itself reflected that stasis: the Saidi Rial had circulated in remarkably unchanged form while neighbouring Gulf states modernized rapidly around it. Said was deposed by his son Qaboos in July 1970, and the entire Saidi Rial series was retired shortly after, replaced by the Omani Rial.
That abrupt transition makes 1970-dated Saidi Rial notes among the shortest-lived issues in the series — circulated for only months before recall.