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The local currency in the UAE is dirhams, which is abbreviated to AED, the unofficial terms are DHs and DH.
24 July 2013
| Last updated on 11 December 2017
The local currency in Abu Dhabi and across the Emirates is the Dirham.
The ISO 4217 code currency abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates dirham is AED. Unofficial abbreviations include DHS, DH or Dhs.
The dirham is subdivided into 100 fils.
History
The United Arab Emirates dirham was introduced December 1971. It replaced the Qatar and Dubai riyal. The Qatar and Dubai riyal had circulated since 1966 in all of the emirates except Abu Dhabi, where the dirham replaced the Bahraini dinar.
Before 1966, all the emirates that eventually formed 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.
Since November 1997, the Dirham has been pegged to the 1 US Dollar = 3.6725 dirhams, which translates to approximately 1 Dirham = 0.272294 US Dollar.
The name Dirham derives from the Greek word Drachmae, literally meaning "handful", through Latin.
Coins
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.
Coins
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25 Fil Coin |
50 Fil Coin |
1 Dirham Coin |
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 fils coin is a rarity- if you find one keep it! 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.
Notes
In 1973, the U.A.E. Currency Board introduced notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 1000 Dirham. A second series of note was introduced in 1982 which omitted the 1 and 1000 Dirham notes. 500 Dirham notes were introduced in 1983, followed by a one off 200 Dirham in 1989. 1000 Dirham notes were reintroduced in 2000 along with new 200 Dirham notes in 2008. 2011 saw the introduction of a new 500 Dirham note with enhanced security features.
Banknotes are currently available in denominations of
5 brown
10 green
20 light blue
50 purple
100 pink
200 yellow/brown
500 navy blue
1000 greenish blue
The obverse texts are written in Arabic with numbers in Eastern Arabic numerals; the reverse texts are in English with numbers in Arabic numerals.
