Buying Authentic Iraqi Dinars

The Iraqi Dinar was preceded by the Swiss dinar. There was nothing Swiss about the currency, but it received the name based on the Swiss printing technology in use. This once novel currency has seen renewed interest as the Iraqi dinar is now bought by collectors.

Prior to the Iraqi dinar, the Indian rupee was the official currency in use for the country of Iraq. They had adopted the rupee after being occupied by the British as a result of the first World War. These days the Iraqi dinar is available in six denominations, 50, 250, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 25,000 dinars. There are also coins available for the Iraqi dinar in 25, 50 and 100 dinars. Although they are practically obsolete due to inflation, the Iraqi dinar can be subdivided into 1,000 fils.

The current dinar value is at about 1,260 dinars to the U.S. dollar. This is much better than the previous dinar currency value hovering above the 2,000 to 3,000 dinar mark as a result of the wars in Iraq. While the Iraqi dinar investment opportunities may not have returned, the demand numbers in the billions of Iraqi dinars per month.

As a collector, you can purchase the new, uncirculated 10,000 and 25,000 dinar notes. Prior to 2002, the highest denomination in print was the 250 dinar note. At that point, the Central Bank of Iraq issued a 10,000 dinar note to assist in cash transactions that were requiring vast amounts of the devalued currency. Unfortunately, these notes were subject to suspicion of forgery during unstable years of government and not always accepted as payment.

Although an internationally polarizing individual, Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraqi, appeared on the Iraqi dinar as late as 2002. As part of the international sanctions on the Swiss printing equipment, some of these notes were printed on inferior paper. Anecdotally, some of the counterfeit dinars may have been of better quality during that time.