Catalog
500 Ouguiya
| Issuer | Banque Centrale de Mauritanie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1979-1996 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Old Ouguiya (1973-2018) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 | البنك المركزي الموريتاني خمسمائة أوقية ٥٠٠ (Translation: Central Bank of Mauritania, Five Hundred Ouguiya, 500) |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents two intaglio-printed vignettes set within an elaborate guilloche border of interlocking rosettes and geometric panels in green, brown, and red. To the left, a scene of field workers harvesting grain by hand occupies a rounded vignette; to the right, a detailed industrial vignette shows a large iron-ore mining and processing complex with mechanical structures and steam. The denomination numerals "500" appear in all four corners, with the bank name in French across the top header and the denomination spelled out in French along the lower border. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Giesecke & Devrient produced this series across a remarkably long seventeen-year span without a redesign — unusual discipline for a central bank that had only been issuing its own currency since 1973, when Mauritania left the West African CFA franc zone and introduced the ouguiya. The longevity of the P#6 type likely reflects both budgetary conservatism and the relatively low volumes required for a sparsely populated country.
Watermark-only security was already minimal by the standards of the period. By the mid-1990s, when this type was finally retired, comparable denominations across the region carried security threads as standard.