5 Dinars BHR Banknote (1964 ‘Arms’ Issue) 1964

5 Dinars Bahraini Dinar (Issued 1964)

In 1964, five Bahraini Dinars represented a meaningful sum for the ordinary working people of Bahrain — sufficient to cover several days of household provisions, modest trade goods at the souk, or a share in the maritime economy that sustained the island’s communities. The Bahrain Currency Board issued this note as Bahrain was modernising rapidly on oil revenues, yet the dhow-building and pearl-diving traditions it depicts remained central to national identity and daily coastal life. Fishermen, traders, and port workers would have handled notes of this denomination regularly, making it a genuinely circulated piece of mid-twentieth-century Gulf economic history. Its withdrawal from circulation has since rendered it a document of the brief but formative period before Bahrain established its own independent monetary authority.

On the front, the note is oriented in a landscape format and printed primarily in tones of blue-green and pale yellow, with the dominant central image being a large, detailed engraving of a traditional Arabian dhow under full sail, its triangular lateen sail billowing to the right. The vessel is rendered with considerable draughtsman’s precision, showing the rigging, hull lines, and a second smaller dhow visible in the water beside it, conveying the maritime heritage that defined Bahraini commerce for centuries. To the upper centre, Arabic script identifies the issuing authority — the Bahrain Currency Board — in bold calligraphic lettering, with a further line of smaller Arabic text below carrying the legislative authority inscription. The denomination is stated prominently in large, elegant Arabic script reading “خمسة دنانير” (Five Dinars) across the central lower portion of the note. To the right, enclosed within a decorative cartouche of fine geometric border work, sits the Bahraini national arms: the distinctive shield bearing the serrated white and red pattern characteristic of Bahraini heraldry, rendered in deep blue and white engraving. Serial numbers appear in red at both the upper left and lower left, reading 082336, printed in a clear serif typeface. A manuscript-style signature in Arabic script appears in the lower central area, representing the authorising official of the Currency Board. The background field is filled with delicate guilloché wave patterns in pale teal, providing both visual depth and a degree of security against counterfeiting. Numeral “5” appears in each of the two upper corners in a clear sans-serif typeface.

The reverse is printed entirely in a single tonal palette of medium and pale blue, giving it a clean, engraved character consistent with high-quality intaglio production of the era. The central and dominant image is a richly detailed scene of multiple traditional dhows on open water, with figures — crew and passengers — clearly visible aboard two large vessels positioned side by side. The scene captures the activity of the Gulf maritime world with impressive engraving detail: the masts, rigging, wooden hull planking, and the movement of the people aboard are all rendered with depth and texture. This is evidently a pearl-diving or trading scene, with the boats heavily laden and the crew engaged in purposeful activity, evoking the pre-oil economy of the Arabian Gulf. Above the central scene, the issuing authority’s name is printed in bold, widely spaced capital letters: “BAHRAIN CURRENCY BOARD”, in dark blue against a pale background panel framed by a decorative border. Below the central image, the denomination is stated in English in capital serif lettering: “FIVE DINARS”. The numeral “5” appears in each of the four corners of the reverse, flanked by fine decorative border panels featuring repeating geometric and wave-pattern elements that run the full length of both the top and bottom edges. The overall paper has a pale blue-white ground with subtle tonal variation suggesting the use of a security-grade substrate appropriate to the period of issue.

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