Catalog
50 Dinars Emergency Gulf War Issue
| Issuer | Central Bank of Iraq |
|---|---|
| Year | 1991 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Dinars (دنانير) (50 IQD) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central vignette presents the spiral minaret (malwiya) of the Great Mosque of Samarra, the celebrated 9th-century Abbasid structure located in Samarra, Iraq, set against a guilloche-patterned background. The composition is rendered in the same colour palette as the obverse, with the architectural motif dominating the design field. |
| Reverse lettering | Central Bank of Iraq Fifty Dinars |
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| Comments |
Iraq's banking system was severely disrupted by the Gulf War and subsequent UN sanctions, and this 1991 issue reflects that pressure directly. The notes were printed domestically under constrained conditions — a significant departure from the country's earlier reliance on foreign security printers such as De La Rue and the Bundesdruckerei.
The domestic print quality is noticeably inferior to pre-war issues, with cruder intaglio work and paper stock that degrades faster under circulation. Counterfeiting was rampant during the sanctions period, and the Central Bank's limited capacity to authenticate or replace worn notes made the problem considerably worse.
This series was eventually rendered worthless in the northern Kurdish-controlled regions, which adopted the older Swiss-printed "Swiss dinar" instead.