Algeria: Central Bank proposes the issuance of newly designed 1,000 and 500-dinar banknotes

The Banque d’Algérie have publicised the proposal to issue newly designed banknotes of 500 ($U.S. 4.24) and 1,000 ($U.S. 8.48) dinars as well as the production of a new 100-dinar circulation coin. Information published on the country’s official news service (Journal number 73) detailed the creation of a new banknote series beginning with these two denominations and for the issuance of a new 100-dinar coin to include the image of Algeria’s telecommunication satellite ALCOMSAT-1. The news service outlined the descriptions of both notes, the subject, and theme for the new 500-dinar note, which is devoted to “Algeria in the era of information and communication technologies,” while the theme for the re-design of the 1,000 dinars note is dedicated to “Culture, tradition, and modernity.”

500 dinars: The face side is proposed to depict the Algerian telecommunication satellite ALCOMSAT-1 orbiting above the continent of Africa, which was the first Algerian communication satellite launched on the 10th December 2017, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, China. The satellite is designed for 15 years of operational lifetime and is overseen by the Algerian Space Agency whose function is for telecommunications, television broadcasting, and Internet connectivity.

1,000 dinars: The face side is proposed to include an image of the Great Mosque of Algiers, which is presently under construction. When this structure is completed it will be the largest in Africa, with the tallest minaret in the world reaching a height of 265 metres (870 feet). The complex, which is close to the Bay of Algiers, will also include a Koranic school, a library, and a museum and will have the capacity to accommodate up to 120,000 people, which will be connected to a marina on the Mediterranean by two panoramic walkways.

Both versions of the banknotes will include the symbolic date of “November 1, 2018” which is the 64th-anniversary date of the birth of the National Liberation Front founded in 1954. The watermarks will also include a portrait of Emir Abdelkader. The new notes will incorporate a holographic vertical strip that includes the alternating images of Berber king Jugurtha and that of Emir Abdelkader (1808-1883), founder of the modern Algerian state. The new state-of-the-art notes will also incorporate additional security features and gravitate in length to assist visually impaired persons to identify the notes by denomination.

It has been reported that the new series of banknotes will, in the future, feature designs that will include portraits of all the heads of state of Algeria since independence, which may include the likenesses of presidents Yamin Zeroual and Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Additional denominations in the new series will retain the watermark image of the founder of the modern Algerian state, Prince Abdul Qadir al-Jazairi, or, as he is known, Emir Abdelkader.

The current series of banknotes consisting of 100 to 2,000 dinars were introduced into circulation in 1995 with the 2,000-dinar note released in 2011. The new notes, which are scheduled for their official issue in November 2019 to coincide with the anniversary of the outbreak of the Algerian revolution, will circulate alongside the current denominations until further notice is issued by the Bank of Algeria. For additional information about the coins and banknotes issued by the Banque d’Algérie, please visit their website.

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