Here is an interesting, though by no means rare or valuable, 1986 note from Iraq full of historical references and symbolism. Many who lived through that era will doubtless recognize Saddam Hussein, the fifth president of Iraq, in office from 1979 until 2003. An imagined scene from the ancient Battle of Qadisiyah appears to his left, in an apparent attempt to associate it with the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, which still raged when this note was issued. Qadisiyah supposedly occurred around 636 and led to the Arab conquest of modern day Iraq over the Sasanian Empire. The 1980s wartime Iraqi government appropriated this battle for their own purposes at the time. The front top center of the bill reads, in very elaborate Kufic script:البنك المركزي العراقي or "Central Bank of Iraq." The note's denomination appears in both numeric and script form. ٢٥ or "25" appears in all 4 corners and "25 Dinars" in Arabic script or, خمسة و عشرون دينارا, appears directly below the battle scene. Below that, the smaller and longer line of text reads, roughly, "A banknote issued by law": ورقة نقدية صادرة بموجب القانون The serial number appears twice as ٠٢٨٥٤٥١ or 0285451. To the right of the serial number, the characters خ ع placed over a number 8 or ٨ probably denote a sub-series or plate ordering of some sort. Someone else may know more details. Under the serial number to the left, the words for "Central Bank of Iraq" repeat in a different script (maybe Nasta'liq?) and, under that and a signature, characters appear that seem to spell "Hafiz": حافظ Both Islamic and Gregorian years appear inside an oval swirl directly to the left of the bottom right ٢٥ - they read ١٩٨٦ or 1986 and ١٤٠٧ or 1407. Since Arabic reads right to left the Islamic date appears first in order. The back center of the bill prominently features نصب الشهيد or the Al-Shaheed "Monument to the Martyrs" of the Iran-Iraq war. To its left appears the ancient gate of Babylon and a Babylonian lion frieze below that. The oval-esque area to the far right contains a watermark. Though it doesn't exactly represent the best of times for many, the bill is nonetheless fascinating in its symbolism and imagery. Like most circulated money it captures nuances of a specific culture and time. Just about every banknote can turn into a small research project.
That is quite an interesting writeup @ewomack, here is some of the Iraqi currency that my dad brought back for me as a gift from his 2007 tour of duty. These notes certainly have some beautiful and intricate designs, but from what I understand they were just as useful as post-WWI German Paipermarks.
Nice These were given to me by a good friend of mine who actually fought in the last Iraqi wars.. He picked them up while on his tour. The back of it shows the Spiral Minaret from the Great Mosque of Samarra. Each are 250 Dinars Also 10,000 Dinars -
@ewomack. Under the signature, it doesn't read Hafiz.. but rather Al Muhafiz which can be translated into " The Governor ". That might refer to the governor of the Bank. BTW.. Nice and educational write-up.
Thank you! I always miss those hidden miims, since calligraphy sometimes transforms them into small dots. So it reads: المحافظ instead. Good to know! Thanks again!
Very interesting write-up! I learned a lot. I like how you emphasized that even modern currency can provide such an interesting amount of historical detail.
Very cool. I picked up a few of these (Saddam notes) during the war while in country. I still have them around somewhere. I think I have 3 different denominations. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the write up. My brother gave me a handful of these when he came home from Operation Desert Shield/Storm - The Gulf War '90-'91. Have had them tucked away in a flight crews checklist book since he gave them to me. I'll have to dig them out and take a look again now that you've shown me what I'm looking at! I had heard somewhere along the way that there were these notes showing him in military garb and others with just a suit and that one might be worth more than the other?
