The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an Arab country in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, on the Persian Gulf. This country is a federation of seven emirates, each governed by a hereditary emir: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is also the state's center of political, industrial, and cultural activities. The history of this country has changed a lot since 1950s, when oil was first discovered. Since then, it has become one of the economical centres of the world.UAE's currency is the UAE dirham (AED), introduced in 1973 to replace the riyal. It's divided into 100 fils. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 fils, and 1 dirham.
Now we're going to talk about the 1 dirham commemorative coin collection. It started in 1986. 1 dirham coins are made from copper-nickel. They were 28,5mm of diameter until 1989, when they it was reduced to 24mm. It seems that they are issued randomly in time (some years 7 coins, other years none).
They all have a common reverse that features the name of the country in English and Arabic, and the denomination (only in Arabic).
The obverse commemorates events related to the country. They are usually banks anniversaries, cultural events, awards, oil shipments, corporation meetings... The coins and the motifs are the following (listed by issuing year).
2) 1987 25th Anniversary - Offshore Oil Drilling
3) 1987 10th Anniversary - al-Ain Unniversity
4) 1991 U.A.E Soccer Team - Qualification for WC - 1990
5) 1998 Bank of Dubai 35th Anniverary
6) 1998 10th Anniversary - College of Technology
7) 1998 15th Anniversary Rashid bin Humaid Award for Culture
8) 1998 Sharjah Cultural City
9) 1999 25th Anniversary - Dubai Islamic Bank
10) 1999 25 Years - Oil Production on Abu Al Bukhoosh Oil Field
11) 1999 Islamic Personality of 1999 - Sheikh Zayed
12) 2000 25th Anniversary - General Women's Union (1975-2000)
13) 2001 25th Anniversary - Armed Forces Unification
14) 2003 50 Years of Formal Education
15) 2003 Abu Dhabi National Bank 35th Anniversary
16) 2003 40th Anniversary of Crude Oil Exports
17) 2003 WBG & IMF meeting in Dubai 2003
18) 2004 First Gulf Bank 25th Anniversary
19) 2005 Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak - Mother of the Nation
20) 2006 Dubai Police Golden Jubilee
21) 2007 U.A.E. Boy Scouts, 50th Anniversary
22) 2007 10th Anniversary of the Hamdan Bin Rashed Award for Distinguished Academic Performance
23) 2007 30th Anniversary of Zakum Development Company
24) 2007 Sharjah International Airport, 75th Anniversary
25) 2007 50th anniversary of Abu Dhabi Police
26) 2007 30th Anniversary of the First LNG Shipment
27) 2008 National Bank of Abu Dhabi, 40th Anniversary
28) 2009 Celebrating Five Years of Success - Dubai International Financial Centre
29) 2009 World Environment Day
30) 2010 I love UAE
31) 2012 50th Anniversary of the first oil shipment
- Topic: UAE related events.
- Size of the collection: 31 until now. They may issue more.
- Price: Some of them aren't easy to find, specially the first ones that may reach high prices in UNC condition. The others are "easily" found at 4-5USD/coin.
- Popularity: There are not too many at ebay, but when they are in auctions, they are usually sold.
