A scarce Pick 4a Qatar
and Dubai Currency Board 25 Riyals will be offered in our January NYC
International Sale at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Though they are now
separate, Qatar & Dubai, both Arab states, were once linked together as
members of the Trucial States. At that time they were joined together as a
banking union for six years during which they shared the same currency.
Initially, it was the
Arabian Gulf Currency Agreement that was signed in 1965 that linked the Trucial
States of Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain. Things didn’t work out with the
four states joined together so Qatar and Dubai split off and signed the Qatar
and Dubai Currency Agreement in March 1966. That agreement created both a
Currency Board and a common currency. Five directors made up the board with two
from each state, and one expert from a country unrelated to Qatar or Dubai.
Qatar had more control or seniority over the union as more Qatar notes were
circulated than Dubai notes. Qatar was at the time responsible for the finances
of the Currency Board and that ultimately made it responsible for both losses
and profits.
Qatar and Dubai placed
orders for coins and banknotes with the British Royal Mint and Bradbury
Wilkinson. Eventually six denominations were printed; the one, five, ten,
twenty-five, fifty and one-hundred riyals. We are very fortunate to be able to
offer this very rare issued 25 Riyals (Pick 4a). Typically issued notes of this
variety are seen with graffiti or annotations in the falcon’s head watermark
area to the right of center.
This example has great centering, with typical
handling you can usually find in notes graded by PMG in Very Fine 25 condition.
However, it is seldom that these notes do not have defects like tears, multiple
pinholes and major staining. Thankfully, this note is absent of those problems.
After thorough research, we have only been able to find two public auction
records for this note. The combined prices realized for those two offerings
totaled well over $100,000.
With this and other
important world currency, we are anticipating a marvelous auction in January.
To include your valuable world pieces in the auction, or to inquire about our
auction process and receive free evaluations, please contact our World Currency
Specialist at Aris@stacksbowers.com
or our Director of Currency at PeterT@stacksbowers.com.
