The Modern Omani Renaissance in Banknotes

ln celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Modern Omani Renaissance, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has launched a new series.

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is located on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, sharing its borders with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The first national currency was introduced in 1970, replacing the Gulf rupee. Its current name, the Omani rial, was adopted in 1972. Coins were introduced earlier, in 1941.

The current series dates to 2019. Banknotes in everyday use are denominated in 100 baisa, ½, 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 rials, and coins in 5, 10, 25, 50.

Forefront of new features

The CBO is recognised as always having been at the forefront of adopting new banknote security features – being, for example, one of the first central banks to feature a LEAD® stripe and SPARK®, and the first – in 2019 – to incorporate a varifeye® ColourChange patch in its (paper) banknotes.