A brief history of the UAE currency, born almost 50 years ago

Money in the UAE is about far more than material wealth.

A clock tower and police fort in Sharjah. A bird’s eye view of Umm Al Quwain. The Ruler’s palace in Ajman. A harbour in Ras Al Khaimah.

These were some of the images displayed on the UAE’s first-issue banknotes, which came into being on May 19, 1973, nearly two years after the nation was unified.

Arabic lettering adorned the front of the Dh1, Dh5, Dh10, Dh50 and Dh100 notes, while there…