The dinar (; sign: £) was the currency of

South Arabia South Arabia (), or Greater Yemen, is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jazan, ...

, and then

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

, and the Republic of Yemen after Yemen's monetary unification on 1 July 1990. Alongside the

North Yemeni rial The rial or riyal was the currency of North Yemen, first the Kingdom of Yemen, then the Yemen Arab Republic. It is the predecessor to the modern Yemeni rial. History The Mutawakkilite Kingdom began issuing coins around the turn of the 20th cent ...

, it was one of the two official currencies used in Yemen until 11 June 1996. It was subdivided into 1000 ''fils'' (فلس).

History

The dinar was introduced in 1965 as the South Arabian dinar, replacing the

East African shilling The East African shilling was the Pound sterling, sterling unit of account in British Empire, British-controlled areas of East Africa from 1921 until 1969. It was issued by the East African Currency Board. It is also the proposed name for a com ...

at a rate of 1 dinar = 20 shillings, thus setting the dinar initially equal to one pound sterling, it also used the

pound sign The pound sign () is the currency symbol, symbol for the pound unit of account, unit of Pound sterling, sterling – the currency of the United Kingdom and its associated Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories and previously of Kin ...

as its Latin script symbol. It was renamed to the dinar after the independence of the

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until its unification with the Yemen Arab Republic in 19 ...

(South Yemen) in 1967. The dinar was replaced with the Yemeni rial following unification with the

Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ', ), commonly known as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a country that existed from 1962 until its Yemeni unification, unification with the South Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (commonly known as ...

(North Yemen) in 1990. Dinar banknotes remained legal tender during a transitional period until 1996. The exchange rate during that period was 26 rials to one dinar. For a wider history surrounding currency in the region, see British currency in the Middle East.

Coins

In 1965, coins (dated 1964) were introduced for both the

Federation of South Arabia The Federation of South Arabia (FSA; ') was a federal state under British protectorate, British protection in what would become South Yemen. Its capital was Aden. History Originally formed on April 4, 1962 from 15 states of the Federation ...

and the

Protectorate of South Arabia The Protectorate of South Arabia (), also known as the Eastern Aden Protectorate, consisted of various states located at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula under treaties of protection with Britain. The area of the former protectorate bec ...

in denominations of 1, 5, 25 and 50 fils. The 1 fils was struck in aluminium, the 5 fils in bronze and the higher two denominations in cupro-nickel. In 1971, coins were issued in the name of "Democratic Yemen", changing to the "People's Democratic Republic of Yemen" in 1973. That year, aluminium fils were introduced, followed by aluminium 10 fils and cupro-nickel 100 and 250 fils in 1981. The 10 fils was scalloped shaped whilst the 100 fils was

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

al.

Banknotes

On 1 April 1965, the South Arabian Currency Authority introduced notes in denominations of 250 fils, 500 fils, 1 dinar, and 5 dinars. A 10 dinar note was issued on 1 July 1967. In 1984, the Bank of Yemen introduced 500 fils as well as 1 dinar, 5 dinar, and 10 dinar notes that are like the preceding issues of South Arabia, except the English text and printer's imprint have been removed from the front, the name of the issuer has changed and now appears on the back, along with the name of the capital (ADEN).

References

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External links

{{Dinar Currencies of Yemen South Yemen Modern obsolete currencies 1965 establishments in the Federation of South Arabia 1990 disestablishments in Yemen Dinar