Collectors, mostly expatriates or foreign tourists, look for the old coins. Any coin or currency that has been withdrawn from circulation is a piece of heritage of high value.

“The history of Saudi coins spans nearly a century,” said Duhaim Al-Ghamdi, a dealer in old coins in Kandarah market.

Circulation of Saudi currency started with the founding of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the late King Abdul Aziz.

Before the issue of a local currency, Saudis depended mostly on Turkish, British and Indian currencies, he said. “It was many years after the unification of the Kingdom that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was established in 1952 and started issuing metal coins and paper bills,” he said.

The first name of the Saudi riyal in paper bills, issued by SAMA in 1953, was Haj Pilgrim Receipts and carried a value of SR10. As the experiment proved a success, SAMA started issuing SR1 notes in 1954 and SR5 notes in 1956.

As the currency bills gained the confidence of local people and foreign pilgrims, SAMA began to issue more of the riyal currencies. Aside from the demand from hundreds of thousands of foreign pilgrims, the rising significance of Saudi Arabia in the international energy market since it began exporting in 1945 resulted in global credibility for the riyal beyond the Kingdom’s geographical boarders.

King Abdul Aziz had started circulating gold and silver coins in Hijaz and Najd since Jan. 1928, according to a report of the Umm Al-Qura journal No.160 issued in early 1928.

The journal said a Royal Order established the riyal as the valid currency of the Kingdom and cancelled dealings in Ottoman riyals.

The Saudi silver coins minted in 1932 and issued for circulation in 1935 were less in weight but had greater silver content than the Indian rupee.

During the reign of King Saud, denominations of SR100, SR50, SR10, SR5 and SR1 were issued. During the time of King Faisal and King Khaled the same denominations were repeated.

King Fahd added the SR500 denomination. SAMA issued SR200 and SR20 bills to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the Kingdom's founding. The new bills issued after the accession of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah carries his photo.