50 Dirhams

The UAE Currency Board was established in 1973 following the country's adoption of the UAE Dirham to replace the Bahraini Dinar and the Qatar and Dubai Riyal, which had served as parallel currencies across the Emirates since the early 1960s. This note belongs to the first and only series the Currency Board ever issued — the institution was dissolved in 1980 when the Central Bank of the UAE took over monetary functions, making the entire 1973 series short-lived by design.

Thomas De La Rue printed all denominations in this series, a standard arrangement for newly independent Gulf states at the time. The 50 Dirham was the highest denomination in the original issue, the 100 Dirham not appearing until the Central Bank series.