Possibly the last remaining vestige of the British control over the region was in the form of the currency used throughout the Arabian Coast countries. These are (in alphabetical order) Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and UAE. The latter (United Arab Emirates) being comprised of seven Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah).
Philatelically Ajman's exclave of Manama also issued stamps as did the exclave of Sharjah - Khor Fakkan.
Perhaps the fact that all these tiny little towns and Emirates produced numerous stamp issues and in particular for events not related to them, created the perception that these stamps were simply being produced to gain income for the local rulers from their philatelic sales. However, the discerning collector can always find the little gem in the rough. I hope to show some of them in this post.
As I mentioned on a previous post (
click here to read it again), the approaching departure of the British Power from the region, the financial impacts of the Indo-Pakistan war resulted in the regional powers becoming more fearful of their dependency on the Indian Gulf Rupee (see the slide below)
 |
Click to enlarge
|
The first to move in this was Kuwait, which introduced its own currency in 1960 with coins entering circulation in 1961. With this the definitive stamp issue of 1959 was re-issued with a few stamps re-designed and of course the new denominations being shown on the stamps (see image below). The 1959 issue can be seen on a previous blog (
click here to read it).
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Although Bahrain initially was a signatory to the Arabian Gulf Currency Agreement on the 7th of July 1965 as well as part of the discussions for the creation of a United Arab Emirates, this did not last long and by the 16th of October 1965 Bahrain launched its own currency. The first stamps with the new currency were issued on the 21st January 1966 (see image below).
 |
| Click to enlarge |
With the departure of Bahrain from the Arabian Gulf Currency Agreement, Qatar and Dubai decided to form their own currency union, signing the Qatar & Dubai Currency Agreement on the 21st of March 1966. The agreement provided for the introduction of a common currency for the two states and the establishment of a Currency Board.
Perhaps the fact that the smaller Emirates of the United Arab Emirates required fewer stamps, or that their sales were not as large as expected and therefore had large stocks. Whatever the reason, it is these smaller Emirates that first marked the change over to the new currency by overprinting previous stamp issues with the new currency (see next few images).
 |
| Click to enlarge |
 |
Click to enlarge
|
 |
Click to enlarge
|
 |
Click to enlarge
|
 |
Click to enlarge
|
 |
Click to enlarge
|
The stamps from these smaller Emirates, as I mentioned above, been seem as mostly issued for revenue rather than need and as such been
Blacked Blotted by the American Philatelic Society and others. The original version of the above stamps can be easily found from the typical online shops, but the re-valued versions as shown above perhaps not so easily.
Next came the issues from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar on the same day - 1st of October 1966.
However, each state had a particular variation in this:
- Abu Dhabi opted to overprint a previous (1964) definitive stamp issue with the new currency as well as horizontal bars over the picture of the previous ruler. This is was a common practice at the time.
- However, Abu Dhabi opted to use the Bahrain currency rather than the Qatar & Dubai Riyal, and so the currency overprint reflects this - Dinars and Fils.
 |
Click to enlarge
|
- Dubai issued a complete new set to celebrate the World Cup being held in England at the time to issue the stamps with the Qatar & Dubai Riyal.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
- Qatar also opted to overprint the previous definitive issue with the new currency. This set was probably issued in very small quantities making it very sought after by collectors, and therefore very expensive set of stamps when they do come in the market.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The last two Emirates to issue stamps were Umm Al-Quwain (Umm Al-Qiwain) and Ras Al Khaimah, both of which also opted to overprint a previous set of stamps (see the images below).
Oman moved next, with the issue of its own currency on the 7th of May 1970 (The Saidi Rial), and the mark the occasion a previous definitive stamp issue was re-printed with the new denominations as shown below.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
By 1972 the experiment of the Qatar & Dubai Riyal had come to an end. The unification of the United Arab Emirates, also created a new Postal System leading to the issue of a first definitive stamps of the UAE, which also mark the entrance into use of the UAE Dirham (see image below).
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Qatar too created its own currency board which issued the first Qatar Riyal on the 19th of May 1973. The first stamps to be issued after this was the two stamps to complement the definitive issue as shown below.
No comments:
Post a Comment