When a young desert nation announced its own currency it sent a message to the world that it was confident of its people, economy and future – now those first Emirati banknotes are collectors’ items.
Printed in an array of colours, the first UAE banknotes showed everything from a tranquil harbour to an imposing fort.
It is 44 years ago on Friday that these first banknotes were issued and the UAE dirham was launched to replace the currencies that had been used across the various emirates.
Produced initially in denominations of Dh1, 5, 10, 50 and 100, these notes were joined three years later by a dark blue Dh1,000 bill to complete the set.
Such first issue notes have long since ceased to circulate in the nation’s shops, having been replaced gradually from 1980 by a set of banknotes that have since remained largely unchanged.
But although no longer used, the original banknotes are far from forgotten: they are coveted by collectors and pristine examples can change hands for tens of thousands of dirhams.
“The first issue notes are available only with collectors or some old people who keep them as remembrance of their early days,” said Ram Kumar, 37, the founder of Numisbing, a dealer in collectable notes and coins based in Deira, Dubai.
“No [shops] accept these notes. They’re just historical items … [but] they have a much higher value than their face value.”
Until the first dirhams were issued in 1973, several currencies were used locally. From 1959, a special Gulf issue of the Indian rupee was in circulation in what were then the Trucial States. Dubai and Qatar later joined forces to launch the Qatar and Dubai riyal, while other emirates used currencies issued elsewhere in the Gulf.
The then newly-founded UAE Currency Board’s launch of the dirham on May 19, 1973, coming less than two years after the UAE was founded, represented another key step in the building of the nation.
As with today’s notes, the first UAE banknotes had Arabic lettering on the front and English on the back, with the reverse displaying landmarks from different emirates.
The Dh1 note showed a clock tower and police fort in Sharjah; Dh5 featured Al Bithnah Fort in Fujairah; Dh10 showed Umm Al Quwain from the air; Dh50 the Ruler’s palace in Ajman; and Dh100 a harbour in Ras Al Khaimah. The later Dh1,000 note featured forts from Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
In 1980 the UAE Central Bank replaced the Currency Board and these first issue notes were gradually withdrawn from circulation and replaced by the notes familiar today.
The first issue Dh1,000 note is among the most sought after, with prices starting at about Dh4,000. Very good examples sell for much more. “If the note is in brand new condition, the way it was produced, it will go up to Dh70,000 or Dh80,000. The collectors will pay a higher premium,” Mr Kumar said.
Among the UAE residents who collect notes is Anthony Godinho, 40, a sales manager from India who has lived in Dubai since 2002.
He has two sets of the original Dh1 to Dh1,000 notes in used condition and estimates that each set is worth between Dh8,000 and Dh9,000. He said the notes are appealing for their colours and the images of landmarks.
“I buy them individually. I never believe in buying sets. I like challenges. Anybody can buy a whole set but searching, getting to know people, finding who has it – I like these kinds of things,” he said.
Mr Godinho sometimes buys online, although he said better prices can often be found purchasing in person.
The best notes are often sold at auction, and there is a busy international market for such currency.
Barnaby Faull, director of banknotes at the London auctioneer Spink, said first issue UAE banknotes were “very much sought after”.
“The early ones are good because they didn’t make so many. To get anything from the Gulf in nice condition after 40 years is tricky,” he said.
Only last month Spink held a Treasures of the Arabian Gulf sale of banknotes, with some raising thousands of pounds. Perhaps appropriately, Mr Faull said most such notes were “going back to the Gulf”.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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