Omani rial

The rial (Arabic: ريال) is the official currency of the Sultanate of Oman. It is divided into 1,000 baisa (Arabic: بيسة) and its ISO 4217 code is OMR. With that said, the rial is the third most valued currency in the world, behind the Kuwaiti Dinar and the Bahraini Dinar.

History

Before 1949, Oman was made up of the territories of Oman and Muscat, and the currency in circulation was the Gulf rupee. The María Teresa thaler, which was equivalent to 230 paise, circulated in the interior of the country.

In 1940 coins were minted for use in the province of Dhofar, and in 1946 for the entire Omani territory. Both currencies were denominated in baisa (equivalent to the Indian paisa), with an equivalence of 200 baisa per rial.

On May 7, 1970 the Saidi rial (not to be confused with the Saudi riyal) was the currency of Oman. It was equivalent to one pound sterling and replaced the Gulf rupee with an approximate exchange rate of 21 rupees per rial. This new rial was divided into 1000 baisa. On September 11, 1972, the Omani rial replaced the Saidi rial at par.

Coins

In the 90s of the 19th century 1/12 and ¼ anna coins were introduced for use in Muscat and in Oman. In 1940, 10, 20 and 50 baisa coins were minted for use in Dhofar, and later ½ rial in 1948 and 3 baisa in 1959. In 1946, 2, 5 and 20 baisa coins were introduced for the territory of Oman, at which were followed between 1959 and 1960 by denominations of 3 baisa y, ½ and 1 rial.

In 1970 a new series of coins was introduced for Muscat and Oman in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 baisa. New coins were introduced in 1975 with the country's new name, 'Oman', and ¼ and ½ rial denominations were added in 1980. Today the coins in circulation are those of 5, 10, 25 and 50 baisa, although there are larger denominations that commemorate different events.

Tickets

In 1970 the government introduced banknotes in denominations of 100 baisa, ¼, ½, 1, 5 and 10 Saidi rials. In 1973 this series was replaced by banknotes denominated in Omani rials, run by the Monetary Committee of Oman. Since 1977, the Central Bank of Oman has been in charge of issuing the banknotes, with the novelty of introducing the denominations of 20 and 50 rials, and in 1985 the 200 baisa banknotes.