5 Riyals - Mahatma Gandhi

Ajman was the smallest and poorest of the Trucial States, with virtually no oil revenue and a population under 5,000. From the late 1960s onward, its ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid al Nuaimi authorized an aggressive program of commemorative issues — Gandhi among dozens of subjects ranging from Apollo astronauts to international statesmen — sold almost exclusively to overseas collectors rather than circulated locally. These coins were currency in name only, a revenue scheme made possible by the brief window between Trucial statehood and the formation of the UAE in 1971, after which Ajman lost its issuing authority entirely.