UAE Currency Museum

Opened in late 2013 to mark 40 years of the UAE Central Bank, the UAE Currency Museum occupies a section of the ground floor in the Central Bank’s headquarters in the city of Abu Dhabi.

Containing a wide range of exhibits that date to long before the nation’s union in 1971, the museum boasts a variety of paper notes, gold and silver coins that include historic Indian rupees, as well as Saudi Arabian and Qatari Riyals.

This intriguing exhibition explains the history of currency in the region with fascinating insights into the introduction, in 1973, of the Dirham to the UAE as the official national currency and the issuance of the first series of notes in 1976.

The museum also includes a part of the Central Bank’s collections of currency notes, currency coins, commemorative coins, gifts and samples of issues of UAE currency notes, as well as coins and currency from other countries. You’ll also find cash counting and sorting machines used by the Central Bank in the past.