The Banknotes of Kuwait

Peter Symes

As one of the Gulf States under the protection of the British Government, Kuwait used the Indian Rupee as its official currency until the introduction of the Indian External Rupees, or Gulf Rupees, in 1959. These remained in circulation until Kuwait introduced its own currency. This study looks at the various notes issued by Kuwait over the years, identifying varieties, signatories and illustrations that appear on the notes.

First Issue

Kuwait became an independent emirate on 19 June 1961, but its first issue of banknotes preceded that event by just two months, on 1 April 1961. However, the decision to issue its own currency was made the year before in 1960, when the Kuwaiti Currency Law was put into effect under Amiri Decree No. 41 of 1960. This law set the framework for the issue of the dinar as the national currency of Kuwait and established the Kuwaiti Currency Board under the chairmanship of Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah. The members of the Currency Board were appointed under Amiri Decree No.45 of 1960. The full Board was:

            •    H. E. Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah (Chairman)

            •    H. E. Mr. Khalifa Khalid al Ghunaim

            •    Mr. Yacoub Yousuf al-Hamad

            •    Mr. Fakri Shehab

            •    Mr. Haider Shihabi

            •    Mr. C. E. Loombe

            •    Mr. Ivar Rooth

            Under Decree No.41 the Kuwaiti dinar was declared to be fixed at 2.48828 grammes of gold and equal to the pound sterling. Submissions for printing the banknotes and minting the coins were considered from several sources. Following the approval of submissions from Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, for the banknotes, and the Royal Mint, for the coins, the specification of the coins and banknotes were published in Amiri Decree No.54 of 1960.

            The notes issued by the Kuwait Currency Board consisted of five denominations: ¼, ½, 1, 5 and 10 dinars. All notes have a similar front, consisting of a portrait of H. H. Sheikh Abdullah III (the first Amir of independent Kuwait) to the right, the text of the note in the centre, and pale area for viewing the watermark to the left. The watermark is a portrait of Sheikh Abdullah, being a mirror image of the portrait that appears to the right of the note. At the top of the note is the title of the issuing authority, below which is the denomination in words, followed by the authority under which the notes are issued and the signature. The notes are signed by Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad as chairman of the Currency Board. Each note has an intaglio border around the front of the note, and while that border is square for the lower denomination notes, for the 10-dinar note it is an ornate geometric pattern.

            The back of each note carries an illustration and a pale area for viewing the watermark. While all text on the front of the notes is in Arabic, the back of each note carries the name of the issuing authority and the denomination in English. The notes carry a Morse-code security thread, where the thread is broken into clear and solid portions. The solid portions from the ‘dots and dashes’ of the Morse code. The Morse code of the thread on the Kuwaiti notes spells ‘Kuwait’,
i.e. ‘– • –   • • –   • – –   • –   • •   –’.

            The serial numbers on the notes of this issue all contain a prefix of ‘ا’ over a number, followed by a six digit number. The Arabic letter ‘ا’ (alif) is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet and also the first letter in the ‘numeric’ sequence of the alphabet, which is the sequence adopted for all letters used in the serial number prefixes on each Kuwaiti issue.

            The illustrations on the back of the notes show symbols of modernization and development, except for the 10-dinar note, where a traditional boum (or dhow) is depicted in full sail. The scenes on the other notes consist of an aerial view of the developing port of Kuwait, a modern secondary school building, a cements product factory, and a view of houses built for people of limited income. These scenes show not only the developing nature of Kuwait, but also depict achievements by the government in education and housing.

            The notes of this series were placed into circulation on 1 April 1961 at the beginning of a six-week period of exchange, where the Gulf Rupees were exchanged at the rate of 75 fils to one rupee. (There are 1000 fils to the dinar.) Gulf Rupees ceased to be legal tender at the end of the period of exchange on 12 May 1961 but, due to public pressure, the period of exchange was lengthened to 17 May. Notes of this issue were withdrawn from circulation effective 1 February, 1982 and ceased to be a legal tender on 31 May, 1982.

Second Issue

Following the rapid development of Kuwait’s economy it was deemed necessary by the Government of Kuwait to introduce a central bank to supervise the economy and its development. The Central Bank of Kuwait was created under Law No. 32 of 1968 and commenced operations on 1 April 1969, taking over the responsibilities of the Kuwait Currency Board. The notes of the Currency Board continued to circulate for some time, but ultimately a new series of banknotes was released under the authority of the Central Bank. The ¼-, ½- and 10-dinar notes were issued on 17 November 1970, while the 1- and 5-dinar notes were released on 20 April 1971.

            The design on the front of each note in the new series is similar to the note it replaced, but the portrait of the new Amir, Sheik Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah who became head of state in 1965, replaces the portrait of his brother and dominates the note to the right. The text on the front of the notes has changed to reflect the new issuing authority and the law under which authority the notes are issued. The notes are now signed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait and the Minister of Finance, with the signatories being Hamza Abbas and Abdul Rahman al-Atiquei. The signatures that appeared on all notes, when they were first issued, were printed in black ink. However, on the ¼- and ½-dinar notes the signatures later became part of the intaglio plate printing. Consequently, there are two varieties of notes for both denominations. The ¼-dinar has black or brown signatures and the ½-dinar has black or purple signatures.

            The back of each note is also of a similar design to the notes they replaced, but whereas the first issue had monochrome illustrations, enhanced colour designs have been added to the back of each note in this series. For three of the five notes in this issue the same illustration is used on the back of the notes as for the first issue. However, the cement factory on the back of the 1-dinar note has made way for the illustration of an oil refinery, and the street-level view of limited income houses on the earlier 5-dinar note has made way for an aerial view of a housing estate of limited income houses. The use of the oil refinery in place of the cement products factory on the 1-dinar note shows a measure of development in Kuwait’s economy between the two issues. The 10-dinar note also has a subtle example of progress between the two issues. On the back of the 10-dinar note of the first issue the boum (dhow) has an old Kuwaiti flag flying astern of the vessel. On the new note the modern flag of Kuwait takes its place. The old flag had a scarlet field with a white stripe along the hoist. The word ‘Kuwait’ was written in Arabic in the centre of the flag and the words ‘There is no god but Allah’ was written in white adjacent to the white stripe along the hoist. The new flag was introduced by Amiri Decree No.26 1961 and announced in the Government Gazette of 10 September 1961. It is a horizontal tricolour of green, white and red, with a black trapezoid at the hoist.

            A portrait of Sheik Sabah is used as the watermark to the left of the notes, with the watermark being a mirror image of the portrait that appears on the front of the note. The security thread continues to be a ‘Morse code’ thread, spelling ‘Kuwait’. The serial numbers for the notes of the second issue have a prefix of the letter ‘ب’ (baa) over a number, followed by a six digit number. The second issue was withdrawn from 1 February, 1982, and ceased to be a legal tender on 31 May, 1982.

Third Issue

Following the accession of Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah to the leadership of Kuwait in 1977, a third issue of banknotes was issued by Kuwait. Introduced on 20 February 1980 the issue is notable for the lack of the Amir’s portrait. It is a belief amongst many Muslims that it is inappropriate for men to replicate animate objects, as these are the work of God and men should not attempt to imitate God. This is not a strict tenet of Islam and many Muslims are happy to illustrate animals, others are happy to produce portraits of dead people, and some Muslims take little heed of the tradition. It would appear that the new issue of banknotes addresses this concern, as no person is depicted on this series of notes. Replacing the portrait of the Amir on the right-hand side of the note is the State Emblem of Kuwait.

            The notes of this issue are far more colourful than the notes of the previous issue and show a complete change in style of design. While the body of the designs are delineated with an intaglio frame, there is no white border on the notes and the colours cover the entire note. The text on the front of the notes remains unchanged from the previous issue. The watermark for the notes is a dhow. Also in the area reserved for viewing the watermark is the image of a dhow worked into the under-print. The clarity of this image differs from note to note and from the initial release, where the image is generally weak, to later releases where the image is quite distinct. Introduced to all notes of this issue is a ‘perfect registration’ device, where a pattern, generally circular and located between the two signatures on the front of the note, registers perfectly with a similar pattern on the back of the note. A solid security thread is used for all notes of this issue and each note of the initial issues carries a fluorescent feature of the denomination of the note. The denomination appears in the centre on the front of the notes, with the Arabic numerals appearing as a gold colour. The back of each note carries an illustration and the name of the issuing authority and the denomination in English.

            The illustrations on the notes of this series differ from those of the first two series, but they continue the use of symbols of modern Kuwait mixed with images of their heritage. In addition to the illustration that dominates the back of each note, a small vignette appears to the left on the front of each note. The quarter-dinar note celebrates Kuwaits riches in oil by depicting a refinery on the back of the note and an oil derrick on the front. The half-dinar note shows a view of Kuwait Harbour on the back and the ‘Kuwait Towers’ on the front. The Kuwait Towers have become a symbol of Kuwait. The larger tower has water storage facilities, a revolving restaurant and a viewing platform. The smaller tower is used just for water storage, whilst a third tower is used to illuminate the two main towers at night. The front of 1-dinar note depicts the Telecommunications Centre in Kuwait City, which was one of the most modern buildings in Kuwait at the time the notes were issued. In contrast, the back of the note shows part of the old mud wall that used to surround Kuwait City. The back of the 5-dinar note shows the Seif Palace, which is the administrative headquarters of the Amir of Kuwait. A minaret of the al-Hilali Mosque in Kuwait City is shown on the front of the 5-dinar note. The 10-dinar note shows two traditional aspects of Kuwaiti culture. Falconry is one of the traditional sports of the Kuwaitis and the falcon on its hunting stand, on the front of the note, represents a tradition that is now practised only by wealthy Kuwaitis. The traditional boum, which appeared on the earlier 10-dinar notes, again appears on the back of the 10-dinar note of this series.

            The initial release of notes for this issue contained the five denominations that had been used in the two previous series. However, on 9 February 1986 a new denomination of 20 dinars was introduced into circulation. Similar in style to the other notes of this issue, the new denomination carries several features that are different to other notes that had already been released. One of the more obvious features appears just below the watermark, where the Braille characters ‘20’ are used to assist sight-impaired people identify the notes. The watermark for this note differs to the watermark used on the other denominations. Instead of the dhow, which is common to all other notes in this issue, the 20-dinar note uses the head of a falcon as its watermark. The 20-dinar note also does not have a fluorescent feature like the other notes in this issue, but it does have fibres imbedded in the paper that fluoresce when subjected to ultra-violet light. The grey and green ink in the panel beneath the text indicating the denomination of the note also fluoresces. Two new features are introduced with the 20-dinar note: the use of a latent image and the use of micro-printing. The latent image, of the denomination of the note, appears in the intaglio panel at the bottom right on the front of the note. The micro-printing, of the text ‘Central Bank of Kuwait’ (in English), appears on the back of the note at the very bottom left. The 20-dinar note depicts two of the more modern buildings in Kuwait City. On the front is the façade of the building that houses the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The back of the note carries an illustration of the Justice Centre, which houses the superior courts of Kuwait.

            During the life of the third issue, there were modifications made to the five lower denomination notes. These notes were initially issued with the pattern of the under-print covering the entire note, but in a later release of these notes the pattern did not extend to the margins at the top and bottom beyond the border defined by the intaglio printing. While the colour of the under-print remains in the margin, the pattern is no longer apparent. This change defines two varieties for the five low denominations. There are also two changes on the later issues that concern the use of fluorescent inks. Firstly, the denomination of each note now appears in a block of fluorescent ink in the centre of the note, with numerals indicating the denomination formed by the absence of ink. Secondly, the serial number in the lower left now fluoresces when submitted to ultra-violet light.

            There are a number of signature combinations for this issue, with the first variety of the five lower denominations having three signature combinations. (Note: Signature No.3 is yet to be confirmed for the 5-dinar note.) The second variety of these notes has only one signature combination. The 20-dinar note has two signature combinations. The signature combinations (referred to in the details of the note issues that follow) are:

            The third issue of notes contains one of the more dramatic, if often unobserved, mistakes by a security printer. When the second variety of notes in this series was prepared (i.e. the notes without the pattern in the upper and lower borders), micro-printed text was added to each note. On the front of each denomination the name of the issuing authority appears micro-printed in English and on the back of the notes the name of the issuing authority is micro-printed in Arabic. However, on the 5-dinar note the Arabic micro-printed text reads ‘The Central Bank of Yemen’ rather than ‘The Central Bank of Kuwait’. It is understood that these notes were printed by Thomas De La Rue, who was also preparing notes for Yemen at this time.

            The serial numbers for this series of notes differs from the previous issue, in that the simple fractional prefix gives way to a fractional prefix that uses letters of the alphabet to indicate the series and the denomination of the notes. The letters of the alphabet are used in their numeric sequence, with the initial form of the third letter in the sequence (ج) used as the right-hand character in all prefixes to indicate that this is the third series. (The previous two series had used ا and ب, the first two letters in the sequence, in their serial number prefixes.) The left-hand character in the fractional prefix is different for each denomination, with each denomination being assigned a letter of the alphabet, ascending in the numeric order of the alphabet. The assignations for each denomination, including the series identifier, are:

            Two years after the release of the third issue in 1980, moves were made to demonetize the two earlier issues of notes. As indicated earlier, the first two series were officially withdrawn from circulation on 1 February 1982 and both ceased to be legal tender on 31 May 1982.

            In August 1990 Kuwait was invaded by Iraq but the occupation was short, with forces of the United Nations, led by the United States of America, liberating Kuwait in February 1991. During the occupation of Kuwait, Iraqi forces took possession of large amounts of Kuwaiti banknotes. The serial number prefixes of the notes taken by the invading army are listed in the following chart:

Due to many notes being stolen during the Iraqi invasion, the third series was withdrawn from circulation with effect from 24 March 1991 and ceased to be a legal tender forty-five days after that date. The notes could still be redeemed at the Central Bank of Kuwait after they lost their legal tender status, until they were demonetized on 30 September, 1991.

Fourth Issue

Following the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, after the occupation by Iraq, a new series of banknotes was introduced to replace the series that had been looted. The new notes were placed into circulation on 24 March 1991, with the notes of the third issue being officially withdrawn on the same date. With a couple of exceptions, the designs used for the fourth series maintained the same design for each note that was replaced in the third series. They also maintain the watermark, security thread and fluorescent features of the previous series. The main changes that were made to the notes of this series were to the colours, the signatures and the serial numbers. Despite these ‘simple’ changes, the notes of this series look dramatically different to those of the previous series. This is not simply because different colours were used for each note, but because each note utilizes many more colours than were utilized for each note in the previous issue.

            Of the changes to the notes in this series, most noticeable is the silver under-print used below the State Emblem of Kuwait to the right of the note. There is also a white segment in the left and right margins that was not present on the notes of the previous issue and on the back of the note the under-print clearly has three different shades of colours across the note.

            The structure of the serial numbers has not altered, but the letter signifying the issue has changed to ‘د’, the fourth letter in the numeric sequence of the alphabet. Thus, the two letters used for the serial number prefix for each denomination are:

The serial number in the bottom left remains printed in black ink, but the serial number in the top right is now printed in red ink. When submitted to ultra-violet light, the red serial number fluoresces gold and the black serial number fluoresces green.

            Following the introduction of the fifth issue, the notes of the fourth issue were withdrawn from circulation on 17 August 1994 and ceased to be legal tender on 16 February 1995. However, these notes can be exchanged at the Central Bank of Kuwait until 16 August 2004.

            There are two signature combinations used on the notes of this series. They are:

Signature pairs no. 7 was used on all notes, while signature pair no.8 was used only on the 10- and 20-dinar notes.

Fifth Issue

The fifth issue of Kuwaiti banknotes was placed into circulation on 3 April 1994. While maintaining the six denominations of the previous series, the notes are of a dramatically different design to those of previous issues, and there are several innovations to the notes of this issue — most notably in the area of security printing. The security features that are presented on the notes of this issue are identified in the following list.

• Micro-printing
  • The text بنك الكو يت المركزي (Central Bank of Kuwait) appears running vertically next to the central intaglio panel, to the left of the security thread. The same text appears below the top intaglio panel, above the State Emblem.
  • The letters ‘CBK’ are repeated in the intaglio panel containing the outline of a falcon’s head (next to the value of the denomination in the top left, except for the ¼-dinar note, where it is in the bottom right). The letters CBK are created by the absence of ink.
  • The text ‘Central Bank of Kuwait’ is repeated below the top intaglio panel on the back of the notes, and in the bottom left of the back of the notes.
  • In various small areas on the back of each note, the text ‘Central Bank of Kuwait’ is repeated in the under-print as part of the design.
• Latent image
  • To the left of the signature on each note is an intaglio image of an object. Each object hold a latent image of the denomination of the note.
• Security thread
  • A windowed security thread is used on all notes, where the security thread appears to weave in and out of the note on the front.
  • There is printing on the thread that contains the denomination of each note in English and Arabic, and it is written in such a manner that each repetition is read alternately from the front and the back. The printing for the 5-dinar note reads ‘KD5٥د​ك’. (The Arabic script is stylized with sharp corners.)
• Perfect registration
  • On the front of each note, to the far left and right, are two border patterns that register perfectly with similar patterns on the back of the notes.
• Fluorescence
  • The red serial number fluoresces gold.
  • The black serial number fluoresces green.
  • The head and wings of the falcon in the State Emblem fluoresce, as does the ink surrounding the crest on a number of notes.
• Foil Stamps
  • Incised foil stamps, in the outline of a falcon’s head, appear on the 5-, 10- and 20-dinar notes. Each stamp carries repeated images of a dhow and the denomination of the note.
• Watermark
  • The watermark is of the head of a falcon, and is very similar to the watermark found on the 20-dinar notes of the previous two issues (although the falcon’s head is smaller and facing the opposite direction).

            The serial numbers for this issue continue with the same format as the previous two issues, but a variation is introduced where one serial number is in Arabic characters and one is Western characters—with the Western-style serial number being printed vertically on the left-hand side of the notes. For the Arabic serial numbers, the prefix continues to contain a letter on the right identifying the series and a letter on the left indicating the denomination. The letter identifying this series is ‘ه’, the fifth letter of the numeric sequence of the Arab alphabet. The serial number in Western characters follows a similar pattern but the letters are used in alphabetical order. Thus the letter identifying the series is ‘E’, the fifth letter of the alphabet. Each denomination is then assigned a letter in alphabetical order. Thus, the two Arabic and two Western letters used for the serial number prefix for each denomination are:

            The illustrations on the notes of this series continue the themes of tradition and progress. However, this series sees young girls and boys depicted on the notes, which moves away from the strict interpretation of the belief that people should not be depicted in illustrations. Apart from the young girls on the back of the quarter-dinar note and the boys on the back of the half-dinar note, many buildings and images that have been depicted on earlier issues also appear on notes of this series; although new buildings and scenes are introduced. The Liberation Tower, a communications tower built after the liberation of Kuwait from Iraq, appears on the front of the 5-dinar note. The Grand Mosque of Kuwait appears on the front of the 10-dinar note and traditional pearl divers are depicted on the back. The 20-dinar note mixes old with new by depicting the modern headquarters of the Central Bank of Kuwait on its back and two views of Kuwait City’s old walls, one on the front and one on the back. An innovation brought to this series is the depiction of a small traditional object on the front of each note, which holds a latent image of the denomination.

            One interesting aspect to the notes of this issue is the inclusion of the words ‘We seek God’s Assistance’ above the title of the issuing authority in Arabic on the front and English on the back of the notes. It is to be supposed that this inclusion may be due to the upheaval and distress caused by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.

            There have been four varieties of signatures used in this series, although only the 20-dinar note has used all four signature combinations. The four combinations are:

The use of the signatures is noted below.

The Polymer Notes

Kuwait has issued two polymer notes to celebrate anniversaries of the liberation of Kuwait from Iraq. Both notes were printed by Note Printing Australia and it appears that the commemorative issues were made, in part, to give recognition to Australia for its part in liberating Kuwait. The denomination of each note is one dinar, although neither note is legal tender and they are simply souvenirs of the anniversaries that they celebrate.

            The first of the two note was issued to commemorate the second anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait, on 26 February 1993.The front of the note shows burning oil wells and camels to the left, while Kuwaitis are depicted celebrating their freedom in front of the Seif Palace to the right. An oval piece of incised foil, bearing the image of a falcon, is suspended in a clear window of the polymer note at the top right. The back of the note carries the State Emblem, a map of Kuwait, Arabic text outlining the reason for the note’s issue, and two lists, one in English and one in Arabic, of the countries that assisted Kuwait in its liberation.

            There are replacement notes known for this issue. All replacement notes carry the serial number ‘CK 000091’ and ‘٠٠٠٠٩١ ك​ج’. The reason why all replacement notes carry the same serial number is not known.

            The second note was issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait on 26 February 2001. The note is covered on both sides in pale pink and purple arabesques and patterns. The front of the note carries Arabic text that explains the reason for the note’s issue. To the right is the State Emblem of Kuwait and to the left is an oval piece of incised foil, suspended in a clear window, bearing an image of a fingerprint. The fingerprint is the symbol used in Kuwait to remember the occupation and those who lost their lives in this period. The back of the note carries a montage of scenes of Kuwait and English text.

Bibliography
• Central Bank of Kuwait Annual Report [Reports from 1970 to 1975 and 1981/82, 1984/85, 1985/86 and 1993/94], Kuwait City.
• Central Bank of Kuwait web site ( http://www.cbk.gov.kw/ ) 2003.
• Kuwait Currency Board Report of the Kuwait Currency Board [Reports from1962 to 1969], Kuwait City.
• Mitri, O. Koweit State of Kuwait, Kuwait City, 1970.
• Shafer, N. & Cuhaj, G. S. Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (Volume 3, Ninth Edition) Krause, Iola, USA, 2003.
• Shaw, R. Kuwait Macmillian London Limited, London, 1976.
• The Times (3 April 1961), London.

This article was completed in February 2004
© Peter Symes

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