Catalog
500 Ouguiya
| Issuer | Banque Centrale de Mauritanie |
|---|---|
| Year | 2013 |
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| Printer | Giesecke+Devrient (Giesecke & Devrient), Leipzig, Germany (1852-date) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed predominantly in green and olive tones, with top and bottom borders composed of intricate geometric and traditional Mauritanian ornamental guilloche patterns, the denomination numeral 500 in Arabic script repeated at each corner. The central field carries a large circular watermark void at left, flanked by two intaglio signatures below, with Arabic text legends running across the upper register and a bold calligraphic denomination inscription across the lower portion. To the right, an elaborately engraved decorative panel displays a diamond-shaped native geometric vignette in red and dark green, surrounded by interlocking arabesque motifs. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark, Security thread |
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| Comments |
Mauritania's 500 Ouguiya series has been quietly revised several times since the country's 1973 monetary reform replaced the CFA franc with the ouguiya — a currency whose name derives from the Hassaniya Arabic word for a unit of weight. The 2013 date places this within a period of gradual security upgrading across the BCM's note range, with G&D's Leipzig facility providing the production throughout much of that modernization cycle.
Pick 18 is not a scarce note, but the series attracts attention among specialists for the ouguiya's unusual subunit structure: one ouguiya divides into five khoums, making Mauritania one of the very few countries whose base currency unit does not divide decimally.