Catalog
500 Rials
| Issuer | Central Bank of Yemen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
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| Printer | Thomas De La Rue & Company, London |
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| Obverse description | A vignette of the Central Bank of Yemen building in Sana'a occupies the left-centre of the note, set against a fine guilloche underprint in blue and green tones. Arabic inscriptions identifying the issuing authority and denomination appear at top and centre-right, with the numeral '500' repeated at upper-right and lower-left. A facsimile signature of the Governor is printed below the central text block. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | CENTRAL BANK OF YEMEN 500 عرش بلقيس - مأرب FIVE HUNDRED RIALS |
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| Comments |
The 500 Rials was introduced following the monetary reunification that came after Yemen's bloody 1994 civil war, in which the southern secessionist movement was crushed by Sana'a forces within months. A unified currency was politically necessary — the north and south had maintained separate banking systems since the 1990 merger, and the rial itself had suffered severe depreciation during the conflict.
Thomas De La Rue's involvement brought the note in line with the broader series the bank was standardizing through the mid-1990s. The security package is modest for the denomination — watermark and thread only, with no optically variable elements.