Mauritania is located in the Northwestern region of Africa. It may not be the most popular tourist destination but, their banknotes are definitely worth talking about. To start off, the country was a former French colony up until 1960 when they gained independence. As a result French is widely spoken in the country and some of their early banknotes have the typical French design and characteristics of the era. After gaining independence, their own banknotes began to circulate in 1973. The currency was called the ouguiya. Its means ounce.

Mauritania 100 Ouguiya | 1973 | P-1s |
Source: Banknote World Educational

The First Banknotes of Mauritania

The 100 Ouguiya is the first banknote released by the Central Bank of Mauritania. Also the first series denominations came in 100, 200 and 1000 Ouguiya. Also, if you are familiar with Lebanese banknotes I would go as far as saying as the 100 Ouguiya, 1973 that the design reminds me of the blue and white Lebanon 50,000 Livres. The front of the 100 Ouguiya features an image of a young woman along with trees. The reverse side of the banknote features an image of a fishing boat as well as fishermen. One year later in 1974 a newly designed series of banknotes were released. They had completely different designs from the previous generation.

Mauritania 200 Ouguiya | 1974 | P-5a.1 |
Source: Banknote World Educational

The Mauritania 200 Ouguiya, 1974 is colored in orange, brown and green. It features a floral design on the front and on the reverse is an image of palm tree as well as a fishing boat. This generation of banknotes had a pretty long duration in circulation. However in 2004 a brand new set of newly designed banknotes were released by the central bank of Mauritania.

Mauritania 100 Ouguiya | 2004 | P-10 |
Source: Banknote World Educational

A Big Leap Forward

They features a more modern and updated design. For example the Mauritania 100 Ouguiya, 2004 is colored in purple and features mostly patterns and designs on the front. The reverse side features an image of cattle, a mosque and also an ardin musical instrument. Also a recently a new series of polymer banknotes were designed and released. The uses of polymer is a huge leap into the modern printing. The 50 Ouguiya, 2017 is colored in purple features the Ibn Abbas Mosque on the obverse and on the reverse is an image of an ardin instrument like on previous design. What do you think about the newly released series of banknotes?

Mauritania 50 Ouguiya | 2017 | P-22a |
Source: Banknote World Educational

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