Central Bank of Iraq Banknotes

The Central Bank of Iraq (البنك المركزي العراقي) operates as the central monetary authority overseeing a system reshaped after 2003, notably defined by the replacement of earlier issues and the legacy of the parallel “Swiss Dinar.”

Quick Facts

Country: Iraq

Currency: Iraqi Dinar

Local name: البنك المركزي العراقي

Institutional Identity

The Central Bank of Iraq manages issuance of the dinar and oversees monetary stability in a cash-driven economy, where modern banknotes are produced by international security printers such as De La Rue under significantly improved technical standards compared to earlier domestic issues.

Historical Evolution

Established in 1947, the bank’s monetary history includes a unique dual-currency period after the 1991 Gulf War, when high-quality pre-war notes—known as “Swiss Dinars”—circulated in the north, while Saddam-era emergency issues were mass-produced on low-grade paper with minimal security features in government-controlled areas. Following the 2003 regime change, Iraq introduced a completely new series at parity, eliminating both systems and redefining the national currency.

Design Philosophy

Modern Iraqi banknotes replaced political portraiture with cultural and archaeological imagery, prominently featuring symbols such as the Lion of Babylon and the spiral Malwiya minaret of Samarra. Designs incorporate bilingual Arabic–Kurdish inscriptions reflecting post-2003 political structure, alongside advanced features including SPARK Live color-shifting elements, solid security threads and refined guilloché patterns.

For collectors

For collectors, the Central Bank of Iraq offers one of the most dramatic currency transitions in modern history, combining the contrast between crude 1990s emergency issues and high-security post-2003 notes, with the “Swiss Dinar” legacy and iconic Mesopotamian motifs making Iraqi banknotes a standout field in global numismatics.