United Arab Emirates dirham

The name dirham is an Arabic word. 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 dirham, while in the other emirates, the Qatar and Dubai riyal was exchanged at par.

In 1973, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 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
		فلس25	20 mm	1.5 mm	3.5 g	Milled	Circular	A Gazelle facing left, with Hijri and Gregorian year of mint below.	Lettering: "الامارات العربية المتحدة", below it "٢٥", below it "فلساً" and below it "UNITED ARAB EMIRATES"
		فلس50	21 mm	1.7 mm	4.4 g	Smooth	Heptagon	Three oil derricks, with Hijri and Gregorian year of mint below.	Lettering: "الامارات العربية المتحدة", below it "٥۰", below it "فلساً" and below it "UNITED ARAB EMIRATES"
		د.إ1	24 mm	2 mm	6.1 g	Milled	Circular	A Dallah, with Hijri and Gregorian year of mint below.	Lettering: "الامارات العربية المتحدة", below it "١", below it "درهم" and below it "UNITED ARAB EMIRATES"

On 20 May 1973, the U.A.E. Currency Board introduced notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 dirhams; a 1,000 dirham note was issued on 3 January 1976.[3] A second series of note was introduced in 1982 which omitted the 1 and 1000 dirham notes. 500 dirham notes were introduced in 1983, followed by 200 dirham in 1989. 1,000 dirham notes were reintroduced in 2000. Banknotes are currently available in denominations of 5 (brown), 10 (green), 20 (light blue), 50 (purple), 100 (pink), 200 (green/brown), 500 (navy blue) and 1,000 (greenish blue) dirhams.

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 come 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.[4] The United Arab Emirates Central Bank has released a new 50 dirham note. The security thread is a 3-mm wide, color-shifting windowed security thread with demetalized UAE 50, and it bears the new coat of arms which was adopted on 22 March 2008.

2003 series

Image		Value	Main Color	Dimensions (mm)	Description
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		5د.إ	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
		10د.إ	Green	147 × 62	A khanjar	A pilot farm
		20د.إ	Blue	149 × 63	The front face of the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club	Traditional trading dhow (called sama'a)
		50د.إ	Light Brown	151 × 64	an oryx	Al Jahili Fort, a pre-Islamic fort in Al Ain
		100د.إ	Pink	155 × 66	Al Fahidi Fort	Dubai World Trade Centre building
		200د.إ	Dark Yellow	157 × 67	the Zayed Sports City Stadium and the Sharia court building	The Central Bank of the UAE building in Abu Dhabi
		500د.إ	Sky blue	159 × 68	Saker falcon	The Jumeirah Mosque
		1,000د.إ	Brown	163 × 70	Qasr al-Hosn	view of Abu Dhabi skyline

On January 28, 1978, the dirham was officially pegged to the IMF's special drawing rights (SDRs).[5] In practice, it is pegged to the U.S. dollar for most of the time.[6] Since November 1997, the dirham has been pegged to the 1 U.S. dollar = 3.6725 dirhams,[7] which translates to approximately 1 dirham = 0.272294 dollar.

Note: Rates obtained from these websites may contradict with pegged rate mentioned above

• Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
• Economy of the United Arab Emirates

• United Arab Emirates Commemorative Coins
• UAE Dirham Currency Converter