The United Arab Emirates dirham was introduced December 1971. It replaced the Qatar and Dubai riyal at par. The Qatar and Dubai riyal had circulated since 1966 in all of the emirates except Abu Dhabi, where the dirham replaced the Bahraini dinar at 1 dirham = 0.1 dinar. Before 1966, all the emirates that were to make the UAE used the Gulf rupee. As in Qatar, the emirates briefly adopted the Saudi riyal throughout the transition from the Gulf rupee to the Qatar and Dubai riyal.

On January twenty eight, 1978, the dirham was officially pegged to the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights. In apply, it is pegged to the U.S. greenback for most of the time. Since November 1997, the dirham has been pegged to the 1 U.S. greenback = 3.6725 dirhams, that interprets to approximately one dirham = 0.272294 dollar.

The name Dirham derives from the Greek word Drachmae, literally which means “handful”, through Latin.Because of centuries of recent trade and usage of the currency, dirham survived through the Ottoman regime.

Obverse side of a Turkmen copper dirham showing a diademed head within a square. Designed by Nestorian Christian artists, it copies a 4th-century Roman coin showing Constantine the Great looking to the heavens. The Arabic writing surrounding the square gives the genealogy of the ruler for whom the coin was struck; it reads “Ilghaāzī, son of Alpī, son of Timurtash, son of Artuq.” Struck in Mardin, Turkey, AD 1176–84. Diameter 32 mm.

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