50 Dinars

Iraq's post-invasion coinage program was administered under the Coalition Provisional Authority, with the Central Bank reconstituted by CPA Order No. 18 in July 2003. This 2004 series was among the first independent issues struck under the newly restructured institution, as the country moved away from the Saddam-era coinage that had been largely abandoned during the sanctions years of the 1990s.

Brass-plated steel was a deliberate economic choice — raw material costs had to be kept minimal for a country rebuilding its monetary infrastructure from near collapse.