A new series of coins was introduced after the establishment of the Iraqi Republic. These coins came in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 fils. In 2004, after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, new coins were released in denominations of 25, 50, and 100 dinars. These coins proved unpopular and were withdrawn from circulation, leaving notes as the main form of legal tender.
The current series of dinar notes was introduced in 2003. These notes come in denominations of 250, 500, 5,000, 1,000 and 25,000 dinars, as listed by the Central Bank of Iraq website in December 2010.
Each note is most instantly recognizable by its color. In ascending order from 50 to 25,000 dinars, these notes are colored purple, blue, blue-green, brown, dark blue, green and red.
The front and back of each note features a different scene or personage from Iraq's culture or history. For example, the 50 dinar note features the grain silo at Basra on one side and an image of date palms on the reverse. The 25,000 dinar note features a Kurdish farmer on the front and King Hammurabi, founder of the first Dynasty of Babylon, on the back.
According to the website Dinar Banker, the Iraqi dinar is printed using special currency paper similar to most European currency papers. However, it is not as durable as the paper used for banknotes in the U.S.
All dinar notes are printed with a number of security features. Every note has a unique serial number and a watermark in the form of a horse. This watermark can be seen clearly when the note is held up to a light. Other security features include a security thread, imbedded ultra-violet marking, raised writing and metallic ink. Each note also has a color changing symbol in the bottom left-hand corner. This eight-sided symbol should change from a purplish color to a dark greenish color when the banknote is tilted back and forth, according to Dinar Banker.
