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What UAE means to me?

Emirati Suhail Al Zarooni on his country and his coin collection

Whenever the wheels of the plane touch the ground on UAE soil, I recite a small prayer and feel very pleased and relieved that ‘I am home’. To me, this feeling is indescribable.

The UAE means everything to me, like dates and water to a desert dweller. It is my home and I love this homeland. It is the place that has shaped me and my family to uphold our traditions, embrace the modern, multicultural society and befriend people from so many nations.

The desert trips that we experienced as children with members of the Royal families are engrained in my mind and I make it a point to share this magnificence with my five sons. We play, chat and laugh, learn about our rich and engaging heritage, ride with camels, enjoy falconry, eat fish, lamb with rice and realise that the rigorous sandy deserts, rocky mountains and our deep seas have been the greatest teachers in defining our progress.

When the United Arab Emirates was created in December 1971, I was a little boy who was touched by all the sense of pomp and celebration that followed over the years. The colourful parades, our beautiful UAE flag and the surge of emotion at the hoisting ceremony continues to be an overwhelming and wonderful experience.

I might shed a tear of pride on our 40th UAE National Day for the glorious leadership that has brought us this far.

Commemorating with coins

Being an Emirati is an important element of my life. Like me, this element has rippled through the people who have lived amongst these great leaders and their extraordinary vision. My father, Mohamed Abdul Karim Al Zarooni works closely for decades with the Royal families of the UAE and has received prestigious and exclusive commemorative coins commissioned by the Palaces.

Whenever the UAE would mark a special event, a commemorative coin in Gold or in Silver, weighing 100 grams or 200 grams would be created and gifted to close members of the Royal family. Our beloved President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has continued this tradition.

These historic coins are now part of the Al Zarooni Museum. They bear the faces of our great leaders and have inspired me to open the Al Zarooni Exchange a decade ago and earn a title as the first Emirati Collector to win a Guinness World Record title for the UAE, for model cars — yes, we do love our cars.

Special coins

The 5th anniversary 100 gram gold coin bears a striking image of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, which is also his first, official photo. By 1996 a 200 gram gold coin was created to mark 30 years of his rule and 25 years of his rule in Abu Dhabi since the UAE was formed on 2nd December 1971.

A handsome set of silver coins marked at Fifty Dirhams is also part of the collection; a personal favourite is the coin with the inscription, ‘Children of the World’.

Gold coins to mark the 45th anniversary of the Diwan, 35th anniversary of the National Bank of Dubai and the Khaleej Times Millennium Coin for Collector adds a sense of continuity to this collection. It’s an ongoing story.

Commemorative designs

Not yet in circulation is a personally designed one thousand dirham bank note. It bears the pictures of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the late Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum with the new Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque in Abu Dhabi.

Every month, special posters are commissioned by me and created by our resident designers and are shared on Facebook, under the theme ‘Proud to be an Emirati’.

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