The Dinar (in Arabic: دينار) is Bahrain's legal tender. It is divided into 1,000 fils and its ISO 4217 code is BHD. The word "dinar" derives from the Latin term "denarius". In 1965 the dinar was introduced for the first time to replace the Gulf rupee, with an exchange rate of 10 rupees for dinar.
In 1965 the first coins were minted in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 fils. In 1992 a new series of coins was minted, removing the 1 fils denomination and adding the 500 fils denomination. There are also two versions of this series, one prior to 2001 in which the official name of the country is 'State of Bahrain', and another later in which the official name is 'Kingdom of Bahrain'.
Bahraini Dinar banknotes and coins in use
Currently, ½, 1, 5, 10, 20 dinar bills are in circulation.
As for coins, there are 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 fils.
Did you know?
- Shopping in Bahrain is a habit that families and friends do almost every day. The wealth of the local population has reached such an extreme that consumerism has been boosted to limits unsuspected in other countries.
- The week in Bahrain begins on Sundays, so for its citizens Monday is not as bad a day as it is in almost the rest of the planet.