Commemorative issue

First Memorial of US President John F. Kennedy

Obverse

Sharjah National Arms. They both have the silver fineness at the bottom, left one in English numbers and right one in Arabic numbers. With Emirate name on top and value at the bottom in both English and Arabic

Lettering:

حكومَة الشارقة

720 ٧٢٠

5 RUPEES OF SHARJAH ٥ روبيَات الشارقة

Translation:

State of Sharjah

720

5 Rupees of Sharjah

Reverse

Portrait of US President John F. Kennedy facing left, with "CR" mark below the neck, and legend and date all around, both in English and Arabic

Lettering:

· MEMORIAL OF JOHN F. KENNEDY 1964 ·

تذكار رجل السلام العالمي - جون ف. كندِي ١٩٦٤

CR

Translation:

Memorial of John F. Kennedy 1964

Memorial of World Peace Man - John F. Kennedy 1964

CR

Edge

Smooth

Comments

Issue Date: May 1965

Mint: Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint)

Mintage: 18,100 remelted in 1966



History:

- This coinage was ordered by the ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Saqr III bin Sultan Al Qasimi who, according to the British, had no authority to issue it

- Apart from the word “proof” appearing on the proof issue coins, the surfaces of the two issues (normal and proof) are of exactly the same quality

- The whole issue was sold to a US commercial group, and a retail price of $5.95 was set for the circulation pieces. The “proofs” were sold for $15 each. The 5 Rupees were equal to $1.05

- There was no indication that any of these coins entered circulation in Sharjah

- Gulf Rupee was the currency of the trucial states between 1959-1966 in the form of paper money issued by the Government of India

- No Gulf Rupee coins were ever issued apart from this fantasy issue

- In June 1965, Sheikh Saqr III bin Sultan Al Qasimi was banished by the British into exile, and he stayed in Cairo, Egypt

- On 6 June 1966, India devalued the rupee. To avoid following this devaluation, several of the states using the rupee adopted their own currencies. Qatar and most of the Trucial States adopted the Qatar and Dubai riyal, while Abu Dhabi adopted the Bahraini dinar. Only Oman continued to use the Gulf rupee, until 1970, with the government backing the currency at its old peg to the pound. Oman replaced the Gulf rupee with its own rial in 1970

See also