United Arab Emirates dirham
The dirham (/ˈdɪər(h)əm/;[2] Arabic: درهم إماراتي, abbreviation: د.إ in Arabic, Dh (singular) and Dhs (plural) or DH in Latin; ISO code: AED is the official currency of the United Arab Emirates. The dirham is subdivided into 100 fils (فلس).
| درهم إماراتي (Arabic) | |
|---|---|
 Obverse of an Emirati one dirham coin | |
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | AED (numeric: 784) |
| Subunit | 0.01 |
| Unit | |
| Symbol | د.إ in Arabic Dh/Dhs or DH in Latin |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄100 | fils (فلس) |
| Banknotes | |
| Freq. used | Dhs5, Dhs10, Dhs20, Dhs50, Dhs100, Dhs200 |
| Rarely used | Dh1, Dhs500, Dhs1,000 |
| Coins | |
| Freq. used | 25, 50 fils, Dh1 |
| Rarely used | 1, 5, 10 fils |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) | United Arab Emirates |
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Central Bank of the UAE |
| Website | www |
| Valuation | |
| Inflation | 2.5% |
| Source | The World Factbook, 2011 est. |
| Pegged with | USD[1] US$1 = Dhs 3.6725 |
History
The name dirham is a loan from the Greek δραχμή (drakhmé). Due to centuries of trade and usage of the currency, dirham survived through the Ottoman Empire.
Before 1966, all the emirates that now form the UAE used the Gulf rupee, which was pegged at parity to the Indian rupee. On 6 June 1966, India decided to devalue the Gulf rupee against the Indian rupee. Not accepting the devaluation, several of the states still using the Gulf rupee adopted their own or other currencies. All the Trucial States except Abu Dhabi adopted the Qatar and Dubai riyal, which was equal to the Gulf rupee prior to the devaluation. These emirates briefly adopted the Saudi riyal during the transition from the Gulf rupee to the Qatar and Dubai riyal. Abu Dhabi used the Bahraini dinar, at a rate of 10 Gulf rupees = 1 dinar. In 1973, the UAE adopted the UAE dirham as its currency. Abu Dhabi adopted the UAE dirham in place of the Bahraini dinar, at 1 dinar = 10 dirhams, while in the other emirates, the Qatar and Dubai riyal were exchanged at par.
Coins
In 1973, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 fils and 1 dirham. The 1, 5, and 10 fils are struck in bronze, with the higher denominations in cupro-nickel. The fils coins were the same size and composition as the corresponding Qatar and Dubai dirham coins. In 1995, the 5 fils, 10 fils, 50 fils, and 1 dirham coins were reduced in size, with the new 50 fils being curve-equilateral-heptagonal shaped.
The value and numbers on the coins are written in Eastern Arabic numerals and the text is in Arabic. The 1, 5, and 10 fils coins are rarely used in everyday life, so all amounts are rounded up or down to the nearest multiples of 25 fils. The 1 fils coin is a rarity and does not circulate significantly. In making a change there is a risk of confusing the old 50 fils coin for the modern 1 dirham coin because the coins are almost the same size.
Since 1976 the Currency Board of the United Arab Emirates has minted several commemorative coins celebrating different events and rulers of the United Arab Emirates. For details, see Commemorative coins of the United Arab Emirates dirham.
| Image | Value | Technical parameters | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obverse | Reverse | Diameter | Thickness | Weight | Edge | Shape | Obverse | Reverse | |
| 25 fils | 20 mm | 1.5 mm | 3.5 g | Milled | Circular | A Gazelle facing left, with Lunar Hijri and Gregorian year of mint below. | Lettering: "الامارات العربية المتحدة", below it "٢٥", below it "فلساً" and below it "UNITED ARAB EMIRATES" | ||
| 50 fils | 21 mm | 1.7 mm | 4.4 g | Smooth | Heptagon | Three oil derricks, with Lunar Hijri and Gregorian year of mint below. | Lettering: "الامارات العربية المتحدة", below it "٥۰", below it "فلساً" and below it "UNITED ARAB EMIRATES" | ||
|
Dh 1 | 24 mm | 2 mm | 6.1 g | Milled | Circular | A Dallah, with Lunar Hijri and Gregorian year of mint below. | Lettering: "الامارات العربية المتحدة", below it "١", below it "درهم" and below it "UNITED ARAB EMIRATES" | |
Issues with fraud
By August 2006 it became publicly known that the Philippine one peso coin is the same size as one dirham.[3] As 1 peso is only worth 8 fils, this has led to vending machine fraud in the UAE. Pakistan's 5 rupee coin, the Omani 50 Baisa coin and the Moroccan 1 dirham are also the same sizes as the Emirati one dirham coin. Although 1mm thinner, one dirham coin has also been found in ten-cent coin rolls in Australia. A falcon watermark is present on all dirham notes to prevent fraud.
Banknotes
On 20 May 1973, the UAE Currency Board introduced notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 dirhams; a Dhs 1,000 note was issued on 3 January 1976.[4] A second series of note was introduced in 1982 which omitted the Dh 1 and Dhs 1,000 notes. Dhs 500 notes were introduced in 1983, followed by Dhs 200 in 1989. Dhs 1,000 notes were reintroduced in 2000. Banknotes are currently available in denominations of Dhs 5 (brown), Dhs 10 (green), Dhs 20 (light blue), Dhs 50 (purple), Dhs 100 (pink), Dhs 200 (green/brown), Dhs 500 (navy blue) and Dhs 1,000 (greenish blue).
The obverse texts are written in Arabic with numbers in Eastern Arabic numerals; the reverse texts are in English with numbers in Arabic numerals. The 200 dirham denomination is scarce as it was only produced in 1989; any circulating today comes from bank stocks. The 200 dirham denomination has since been reissued and is now in circulation since late May 2008 – it has been reissued in a different colour; Yellow/Brown to replace the older Green/Brown.[5]
On 22 March 2008, The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates released a Dhs 50 note. The security thread was a 3-mm wide, colour-shifting windowed security thread with demetalized UAE 50, and it bore the new coat of arms. On 7 December 2021, a redesigned polymer Dhs 50 note was released to commemorate the golden jubilee of the country on 2 December 2021, making it the UAE's first polymer banknote.[6] Additional new polymer banknotes of Dhs 5 and Dhs 10 were introduced on 21 April 2022,[7] with the Dhs 1000 released in the first half of 2023.[8]
| Image | Value | Main Color | Dimensions (mm) | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | |||
| Dhs 5 | Brown | 143 × 60 | Sharjah Central Souq also known as Islamic Souq, the Blue Souq or the central market | Imam Salem Al Mutawa Mosque, which was formerly known as Al Jamaa mosque in Sharjah | ||
| Dhs 10 | Green | 147 × 62 | A Khanjar | A pilot farm | ||
| Dhs 20 | Blue | 149 × 63 | The front face of the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club | Traditional trading dhow (called sama'a) | ||
| Dhs 50 | Light Brown | 151 × 64 | An Oryx | Al Jahili Fort, a pre-Islamic fort in Al Ain | ||
| Dhs 100 | Red | 155 × 66 | Al Fahidi Fort | Dubai World Trade Centre building | ||
| Dhs 200 | Dark Yellow | 157 × 67 | The Zayed Sports City Stadium and the Sharia court building | The Central Bank of the UAE building in Abu Dhabi | ||
| Dhs 500 | Sky blue | 159 × 68 | A Saker falcon | The Jumeirah Mosque | ||
| Dhs 1,000 | Brown | 163 × 70 | Qasr al-Hosn | View of Abu Dhabi skyline | ||
| Image | Value | Main Color | Dimensions (mm) | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | |||
 |
Dhs 5 | Brown | 143 × 60 | Ajman fort | Dhayah Fort in Ras al Khaimah | |
 |
Dhs 10 | Green | 147 × 62 | Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque | Khor Fakkan amphitheatre | |
 |
Dhs 50 | Navy Blue | 151 x 64 | Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan and the other founding fathers | Sheikh Zayed signing a union document | |
 |
Dhs 1,000 | Brown | 163 × 70 | Sheikh Zayed "Hope" probe | Barakah nuclear power plant in Ruwais | |
Exchange rates
On January 28, 1978, the dirham was officially pegged to the IMF's special drawing rights (SDRs).[9] In practice, it has been pegged to the U.S. dollar for most of the time.[10] Since November 1997, the dirham has been pegged to the US dollar at a rate of US$1 = Dhs 3.6725,[11] which translates to approximately Dh 1 = US$0.272294.
| Current AED exchange rates | |
|---|---|
| From Google Finance: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD SAR BHD INR |
| From Yahoo! Finance: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD SAR BHD INR |
| From XE.com: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD SAR BHD INR |
| From OANDA: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD SAR BHD INR |
References
- "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- Stevenson, Angus (2010-08-19). Oxford Dictionary of English. OUP Oxford. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-19-957112-3.
- Menon, Sunita (2006-08-01). "Hey presto! A Peso's as good as a Dirham". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
- Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "United Arab Emirates". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com.
- url="Gulfnews: New Dh200 note to be issued in the UAE". Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
- Forster, Sarah (7 December 2021). "UAE leaders attend launch of new Dh50 banknote". The National News. The National News. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- https://centralbank.ae/sites/default/files/2022-04/CBUAE%20issues%20new%20five%20and%20ten%20dirham%20polymer%20banknotes-EN.pdf
- Web Desk. "UAE Central Bank issues new Dh1,000 banknote for National Day". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- Dynamic Growth of the UAE Monetary and Banking Sector, Central Bank of the UAE Archived May 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Tables of modern monetary history: Asia Archived February 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Statistical Bulletin, Quarterly July – Sep. 2005, Central Bank of the UAE Archived 2011-08-15 at the Wayback Machine Vol. 25, No. 3