PREVIEW: WORLD BANKNOTES: 30 NOVEMBER

The portrait of King Faisal II as a small child on the 100 Fils note recalls a period in the earlier history of Iraq as a nation state when conflict raged.

The boy was the grandson of Faisal I, made of King of Iraq in 1921 under the British mandate, as noted in the accompanying preview here for the 14 & 15 November Coins & Historical Medals auction.

When Faisal I died of a heart attack in 1933, he had done much to consolidate his family’s rule, including overseeing the transition of the country from the British mandate the previous year, but tribal and religious factionalism continued to plague the new state.

The death of his son Ghazi in a car crash just six years later at the age of 27 left the throne to the five-year-old Faisal II, whose minority left the country in the hands of his uncle, Prince Abd al-Ilah, as regent.

Continued infighting, especially against the backdrop of the Second World War, led to a short-lived coup d’état by the pro-German prime minister before the regent was restored following a supportive British invasion.

Faisal finally attained his majority and power in 1953 and, backed by substantial oil revenues, started to develop the country – and notably Baghdad – in earnest.

By 1958, Syria and Egypt had joined forces as the United Arab Republic, and in response Faisal and his cousin, King Hussein of Jordan, declared the formation of the Arab Hashemite Union between Iraq and Jordan.

Further instability in the wake of the Suez Crisis and the formation of organised pro-republican opposition eventually led to another coup d’état on 14 July 1958. Surrendering to the insurgents, Faisal and his family were taken to the courtyard of the Royal Palace in Baghdad where they were summarily shot.

Faisal II had died at the age of just 23. It was the end of the monarchy in Iraq after less than 40 years. It was not, however, the end of unrest, with the first President of Iraq, Muhammad Najib Ar-Ruba’i being overthrown in another coup five years later.

The Government of Iraq specimen 100 Fils note offered in this sale dates to 1941, the year Faisal II turned seven.

The war made it all but impossible to ship notes printed in the UK to Iraq. As a result, the Nasik Press in India was used for notes destined for Iraq. 1/4, 1/2 and 1 Dinar notes were issued in larger quantities, while 100 Fils note like this one were released in tiny numbers, and only for a very short period of a couple of weeks. Only one issued example of the note is known, in very poor condition, and this is the first specimen note ever to see the light of day.

As with the highlight of the 14 & 15 November Coins & Historical Medals auction, this note is consigned by the family of Mr Abraham Elkabir (sometimes known as Ibrahim El-Kabir), Accountant-General of Iraq from 1927 until 1934, and Director-General of the Ministry of Finance for long periods thereafter.

He played a prominent role in many national and international financial negotiations: he represented Iraq in the financial negotiations connected with the Treaty of Lausanne which settled the issues pending between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire and its successor, Turkey; towards the end of the Second World War he represented Iraq at the Dumbarton Oaks and Bretton Woods conferences, which created the post-war world monetary system; he played a large part in the replacement of the Indian Rupee by the Dinar, the Iraqi national currency; he organised the flotation of the first public loan promoted by the Iraqi government; and collaborated in the foundation of the national bank of Iraq. 

Mr. Abraham Elkabir, O.B.E., died in London in 1973.

With the serial number O/00 000000, and in very fine condition, this 100 Fils note is the only specimen example of this rare note in private hands and probably the only time in history that collectors will be able to acquire this key note for the Iraq series.

The estimate is £50,000-70,000.