Catalog
½ Dinar
| Issuer | Central Bank of Iraq |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Brown intaglio print on a guilloche underprint ground. A portrait vignette of young King Faisal II occupies the right field within an ornate arabesque border, while the central panel carries the denomination in Arabic script flanked by floral rosettes. The text block bears the bank name, legal tender clause, date, and law reference in Arabic, with a manuscript signature of the Governor below; serial number and prefix appear at upper right and lower left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Central Bank of Iraq ½ DINAR THOMAS DE LA RUE & CO. LTD NEW MALDEN SURREY ENGLAND |
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| Comments |
Iraq's post-mandate currency arrangements required a clean break from the Indian rupee system that had governed the country's money supply since the British occupation. The Iraqi dinar was introduced in 1932, but the 1947 series represented the first notes issued directly under Central Bank authority rather than through the transitional Iraq Currency Board, giving Baghdad genuine institutional control over its own monetary emissions for the first time.
De La Rue's involvement in this series is unsurprising — the firm held printing contracts across much of the British-influenced Middle East in this period. The half-dinar denomination saw relatively light circulation, as everyday transactions at that level still defaulted heavily to coin.