1 Dirham

The UAE Currency Board's 1973 dirham series was the country's first unified currency, issued just two years after federation. Before this, the Qatar and Dubai Riyal and the Bahrain Dinar had both circulated across different emirates — monetary unification was itself a political act, and this note was its instrument.

Thomas De La Rue handled the printing, as they did for the majority of newly independent Gulf states during this period. The watermark is the sole mechanical security feature — modest by later standards, but consistent with what the Currency Board specified for a short-lived transitional series. The UAE Central Bank replaced the Currency Board and its notes within a few years.