Remember when UAE had a Dh1 currency note?

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Remember when UAE had a Dh1 currency note?

Dubai - Expat recalls the time when large swathes of desert were a common sight in most of UAE.

By Keith Pereña

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Published: Thu 14 Mar 2019, 5:17 PM

Last updated: Sun 17 Mar 2019, 8:21 PM

The Dh1 coin is perhaps the most used denomination of the UAE currency. It can be used to pay for parking, grab chai, take an abra and a host of other things.
But very few of us remember the time when the Dh1 wasn't a coin - it was a paper bill.
"My grandmother told me that they got the Dh1 bill when they came to the UAE sometime between 1973-1977," Zhulfiqar Abdullah, a 22-year old Iraqi national, told Khaleej Times.
Zhulfiqar used to live in the UAE until 2013 when he decided to move to Canada. According to him, his grandparents received the Dh1 bill when they stayed in the country for a brief period. "They went to the UAE after my grandfather received a job offer in Sharjah," he said. In a series of anecdotes, he told Khaleej Times what her grandmother remembers about the UAE from way back then.
Before the emirates turned into the cities they are today, his grandmother recalled how there were only lone buildings in the vast expanse of the desert. "She said that the only thing in Sharjah back then was the Carlton Hotel, the rest was desert. You could drive for 10-15 minutes without seeing anything but the sand. The only happening place back then was Abu Dhabi."
What's worth noting is that his grandparents were only in the country for four days. This was when they got the Dh1 bill. 
"My grandfather turned down the job offer and Sharjah, and decided to return to Iraq and work there instead. He thought that at the time there was barely anything in the area. He did take home this Dh1 bill from his short visit to the UAE."
The Dh1 currency note is part of his grandfather's collection of currencies. "It's a hobby of my grandfather to collect currencies," Zhulfiqar said. 


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