{"id":273757,"date":"2020-10-05T18:28:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T07:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabcollector.com\/?p=273757"},"modified":"2020-12-04T18:52:14","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T07:52:14","slug":"historical-development-of-the-saudi-arabian-currency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arabcollector.com\/en\/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%b7%d9%88%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%ae%d9%8a-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%b9%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d8%b2\/","title":{"rendered":"The historical development of the Saudi currency \u2013 Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before 1902, the Arabian Peninsula experienced difficult economic conditions that transformed most of its societies into nomadic tribes, relying primarily on barter and a chaotic monetary system. Various currencies were used, such as the French riyal, the Ottoman riyal, the British gold pound, the Indian rupee, and the Egyptian piastres, among others. This situation persisted until King Abdulaziz entered Riyadh in 1902. As a practical step to regulate the monetary system, King Abdulaziz stamped the commonly circulated coins with the word "Najd." This occurred before 1922 and, according to available sources at the time, was the first step in establishing the Saudi monetary system. After King Abdulaziz unified the Hejaz with Najd in 1925, he permitted the use of foreign currencies and stamped the coins with the word "Hejaz." Due to the market's need for larger quantities of currency, copper coins of half and quarter piastre denominations were minted. These were the first Saudi currency issues, bearing the name of King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Faisal Al Saud. In 1926, King Abdulaziz ordered the minting of new coins of one and a half piastre denominations. The quarter-piaster coin, minted from cupronickel, was introduced in 1927 when the King ordered the abolition of all foreign currency in circulation and introduced the first pure Saudi Arabian riyal, minted from silver. At that time, one British gold sovereign was equivalent to ten Saudi Arabian silver riyals. In 1932, a royal decree was issued changing the country's name to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1935, the first Saudi currency bearing the title of the King of Saudi Arabia was issued. This was on the new silver riyal and its fractions, the half-riyal and the quarter-riyal. In 1951, the first Saudi Arabian gold pound was minted, weighing eight grams. However, its introduction was postponed until an institution was established to manage the country's monetary affairs. It was finally introduced in 1952 after the establishment of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). In 1953, SAMA introduced what were then known as Hajj receipts in the ten-riyal denomination, later supplemented by five-riyal and one-riyal denominations. The Hajj receipts were a success, widely used by citizens and pilgrims alike. They traded them and did not exchange them for coins, leading the state to conclude that people were willing to replace coins with paper currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n