United Arab Emirates dirham
| United Arab Emirates dirham | |
|---|---|
| درهم إماراتي (Arabic) | |
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | AED |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄100 | fils (فلس) |
| Symbol | د.إ |
| Banknotes | |
| Freq. used | د.إ5, د.إ10, د.إ20, د.إ50, د.إ100, د.إ200, د.إ500 |
| Rarely used | د.إ1000 |
| Coins | |
| Freq. used | د.إ1 ,فلس50 |
| Rarely used | فلس1, فلس5, فلس10, فلس25, |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) |
 United Arab Emirates
|
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Central Bank of the UAE |
| Website | www |
| Valuation | |
| Inflation | 2.5% |
| Source | The World Factbook, 2011 est. |
| Pegged with |
US dollar 1 USD = 3.6725 AED |
The United Arab Emirates dirham (Arabic: درهم, sign: د.إ; code: AED), also known as simply the Emirati dirham, is the currency of the United Arab Emirates. The dirham is often abbreviated "AED", while unofficial abbreviations include "DH" or "Dhs.". The dirham is subdivided into 100 fils (فلس).
The name Dirham derives from the Greek word Drachmae, literally meaning "handful", through Latin. Due to centuries of old trade and usage of the currency, dirham survived through the Ottoman Empire.
The United Arab Emirates dirham was introduced on 19 May 1973. It replaced the Qatar and Dubai riyal at par. The Qatar and Dubai riyal had circulated since 1966 in all of the emirates except Abu Dhabi, where the dirham replaced the Bahraini dinar at 1 dirham = 0.1 dinar. Before 1966, all the emirates that were to form the UAE used the Gulf rupee. As in Qatar, the emirates briefly adopted the Saudi riyal during the transition from the Gulf rupee to the Qatar and Dubai riyal.
In 1973, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 fils, and 1 dirham. The 1, 5 and 10 fils are struck in bronze, with the higher denominations in cupro-nickel. The fils coins were same size and composition as the corresponding Qatar and Dubai dirham coins. In 1995, the 50 fils and 1 dirham coins were reduced in size, with the new 50 fils being curve-equilateral-heptagonal shaped.
The value and numbers on the coins are written in Eastern Arabic numerals and the text is in Arabic. The 1, 5 and 10 fils coins are rarely used in everyday life, so all amounts are rounded up or down to the nearest multiples of 25 fils. The 1 fil coin is a rarity and does not circulate significantly. In making change there is a risk of confusing the old 50 fils coin for the modern 1 dirham coin because the coins are almost the same size.
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Wikipedia