500 Dirhams

The UAE's second banknote series, introduced from 1982 onward, was printed by Thomas De La Rue at a time when the Central Bank — established only in 1980, replacing the UAE Currency Board — was still consolidating monetary authority across seven emirates with very different economic interests. The 500 Dirham denomination was the highest face value in that series, placing it firmly in the hands of institutional users and wholesale trade rather than everyday retail circulation.

De La Rue's contract for this series was notable given competition from other security printers courting Gulf states during the oil-boom years. Notes at this denomination typically saw less handling than lower values, which accounts for the relative frequency of higher-grade survivors compared to the 1 and 5 Dirham notes of the same issue.