IS 'Islamic Dinars' to soon enter circulation

The Islamic State group's media outlet, al-Furqan, has released images of militants handing out flyers and plastering posters on Mosul's walls, revealing it has begun producing its own currency.

The posters show the designs of the "Islamic dinars" believed to have been minted by the group, with explanations of the embossed images, which include a map of the world, the inscription The Islamic State - A caliphate based on the teachings of the Prophet and seven wheat stalks, a Quranic reference.  

Abu Ibrahim Raqqawi, who heads the anti-IS group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, tweeted images of the IS-minted coins.

Nineveh resident Younis Abdallah told al-Araby al-Jadeed's Arabic service: "IS has announced it will give each family ten of their new dinars for free, but they have to exchange their old money with the group's financial office using their exchange rates."

	The Five "Islamic dinar" coin will be worth approximately $715 [Twitter]

Omar Abd al-Jabbar is a professor of economics at Mosul University.

The militant group has hired experienced metalworkers and jewellers in Nineveh and Syria to manufacture coins using gold and other metals, which will go into circulation by the end of Ramadan, he told al-Araby al-Jadeed Arabic.

"IS is going to fail in this endeavour, because currencies have to be traded globally. This new currency is merely a show of strength from IS that it can do as it pleases and possess the elements of a state," he added.

Iraqi economist Ahamd al-Dulaimi agreed.

"The currency will only make it harder for locals to carry out business transactions and will have no effect on the Iraqi dinar," he said.

In November, the militant group announced it was looking to reinstate the dinar as a means of exchange in an effort to "emancipate itself from the satanic global economic system".

IS pegged the exchange rate of its new currency at one gold dinar to $143.

The IS dinar is based on dinar coins used during the Caliphate of Uthman in 634CE, which included two gold, three silver and two copper coin denominations.