Map, circa 1850s, with “Kueit” clearly marked on this map by German geographer Karl Ritter
The area that is today Kuwait has seen a wide array of coins throughout the centuries: Abbasid dirhams and dinars, Ottoman paras and liras, Austrian thalers, Indian rupees and others. However, conventional history of Kuwait’s coins begins only recently – in 1961, which is when the Kuwaiti Dinar was first issued by the Currency Board. This was not the first time Kuwait established its sovereignty by issuing coins. One lesser known fact is that there had been at least one previous attempt to create a local currency. Sheikh Abdullah II Sabah II Al-Jaber I Al-Sabah (1814–1893) was the fifth monarch of Kuwait and eldest son of Sheikh Sabah II Al-Sabah whom he succeeded. Sheikh Abdullah ruled from 1866 to 1892, and in 1886, he ordered the minting of a copper coin, known at that time as the Kuwaiti Baiza.
The primitive, crude, hammered coins were locally produced. According to Kuwaiti Islamic coin specialist M. Al-Hoseini, the person overseeing the minting operation was a senior member of the prominent Bodi tribe. Very few coins were produced, with up to 4 possible types with notable distinctions in the text, design, and even planchet thickness. The obverse reads “ضرب في الكويت” (struck in Kuwait) along with the date 1304 (1887), and the reverse carries the seal of Sheikh Abdullah. The coins circulated for several weeks but were short lived.
Due to extremely low mintage figures and limited circulation, the 1 Baiza is particularly rare. The Standard Catalog of World Coins lists two types (KM# 1 is the one depicted throughout this entry), and indicates “Rare” instead of an actual value, further highlighting that the coin is generally not collectable due to the combination of rarity and immense historic significance that it possesses. In Steve Album’s list, the coins have an RRR rarity designation, defined as “Almost never available. Few collectors will ever have the chance to acquire these pieces.”
The coins as they are listed in Krause’s Standard Catalog of World Coins, 19th Century.
We were able to locate 4 previous listing records for this coin, appearing on the market approximately once every 10 years:
Listing in Scott Cordry’s Auction (1982)
Listing in Steve Album’s List (1993)
Listing in Steve Album’s List (2004)
Listing in Baldwin’s Auction (2012)
And finally, a Kuwaiti book from the late 1980s on the history of Kuwait’s coins and currency, with the Baiza on the front cover, once again acknowledging its historical significance.
Book, “The Story of Currency in Kuwait”, with the Kuwait Baiza on the front cover
I found one more listing: Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 10 (July 2005), lot 248. Listed as “Baisa.”
Thanks a lot for sharing! An interesting addition to this story, is that almost all known examples of this coin are traceable to an American oil man, who had brought the coins with him from Kuwait when he returned to the United States. Some 25 years later, after being impounded for years in the oil man’s family’s possession, these coins found their way to a prominent dealer operating less than 2 miles away.
Heritage just sold one in their weekly auction
Indeed. Heritage Auctions were incredibly stupid to put this coin in an internet auction, and by doing so they negligently handled the consignment given to them. Such a coin could have realized tenfold what it realized in the internet auction, had it been reserved for a floor auction. Thank you for your comment!
Well, I think even in heritage ,even it’s a big auction company, they do not have enough people to find out which coin can get a better result. The Arabic coins, they even do not know which is the Obv.! I would like to say if the people who want to sell his Arabic coins, maybe Joe Lang ‘s auction will be a better choice! And to be honest, I think the weekly auction of ha is my favorite auction which pay less but get better collection:-)
Yes, I agree with you – big companies like Heritage are focused on volume and do not have time that some of the undervalued Middle Eastern coins deserve when it comes to descriptions. I too look at Heritage as an opportunity to buy less than market price. Steve Album Rare Coins is indeed a better choice for auctioning Arab coins.
[…] multiple examples throughout the museum of extremely rare sourced items like Kuwait’s first Baiza coin which only two are known to still exist today, to more current items like Sheikh Jaber’s […]
[…] are multiple examples throughout the museum of extremely rare sourced items like Kuwait’s first Baiza coin which only two are known to still exist today, to more current items like Sheikh Jaber’s iconic […]