New Iraqi Dinar

The new Iraqi dinar, which goes by the symbol NID, officially went into effect on October 15, 2003 and completely replaced the dinar on January 15, 2004 that had been used since April of 1932 when it replaced the Indian Rupee. For a short time the dinar was linked to the gold standard but later it was linked to the pound Sterling.

When the new Iraqi dinar Iraqi citizens were given 3 months to turn in the old dinars to be replaced by newer ones. Prior to Iraq's currency being unified, there were actually 2 different kinds or dinar circulating in the country. Before the first Gulf War and the resulting economic blockade of the country, Swiss printing equipment was available and banknotes were of very high quality, but during the blockade the high quality equipment was no longer available and neither were replacement parts. Consequently alternative printing presses had to be configured to print the bills that ended up being of inferior quality, but none the less still adequate for monetary exchange.

These secondary dinars printed after the economic blockade were known as Saddam Dinar and circulated in the southern part of the country. After the January 15th 2004 deadline for citizens to turn in their old dinars, only the new Iraqi dinars were officially used as a monetary exchange. Obviously not everyone complied with the replacement immediately and the old dinar was used for exchange well past the cut off date. And of course these older dinar were sought ofter by collectors and those interested in memorabilia left over from the time of the reign of Saddam Hussein .

Other sought after and very collectible dinars are those that are known as King Faisal dinars. These are quite rare and highly sought after by collectors and can be found in limited quantities on eBay and from private collectors.

If you are interested in collecting the King Faisal dinar, old Saddam dinars or the new Iraqi Dinar, please visit our buy Iraqi Dinar page where you can find several varieties.

Iraq Dinar Foreign Currency Trading