The Iraqi dinar, the nation’s currency, is printed by the Central Bank of Iraq. Due to the low dinar to dollar exchange rate, several currency trading companies offer dinars to long-term investors that wish to purchase dinars. In addition to discussing ways for investors to stay up to date on dinar news, this article will provide a brief history of both the nation and the currency
The Dinar Chronicles: Investors should be aware of five historical insider facts about the Iraqi Dinar.
- Purchasing Iraqi dinars for investment purposes
- Iraq Was Once Under Ottoman Rule
- Iraq was taken by the British in World War I
- Iraq was dragged into World War II by the British
- The Story of Saddam Hussein’s Rise and Fall
Now let’s take a closer look at both the history of the Iraqi dinar and Iraq itself. Here are two fascinating historical studies that will help you understand Iraq’s past and contextualize the unfolding dinar saga.
A SUMMARY OF THE DINAR’S HISTORY
The term “dinar” is not limited to Iraq. Many Middle Eastern countries use this name for their currency because it refers to the Damascus caliphate, which issued Arabic gold coins in the 1630s. A caliphate was an Islamic state governed by a caliph. Muslims thought that this Islamic ruler was the spiritual and political successor to Mohammed, the Islamic Prophet.
People often think that the dinar must have Arabic, Persian, or Turkish roots because it is a common name for many currencies in the Middle East. However, the term derives from the Latin word for money, “denarius.” The Iraqi dinar was once one of the world’s most valuable currencies because Iraq was once a wealthy country. Before Hussein launched his unprovoked wars against Iran and Kuwait, the old dinar was worth as much as $3.20.
The United Nations trade embargo was imposed in response to Kuwait’s hegemony and the Gulf War led by a US-led military coalition. As a result, the value of the Iraqi dinar plummeted. An Iraqi dinar was worth less than a penny in August 2002. According to a currency converter, 1 Iraqi Dinar (IQD) is now only worth 0.00084 US dollar (USD).
5 HISTORICAL INSIGHTS INVESTORS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE IRAQI DINAR
- Investing in Iraqi Dinar Currency
Is it possible that the Iraqi dinar will regain the value it had in the 1980s? While we can only speculate on how much the rate will change, there are two compelling reasons to believe the dinar will be revalued.
The first is that the Bank of Iraq is doing everything possible to restructure Iraqi debt and reestablish international trust in Iraq’s currency and market economy. The new government intends to rebuild the oil industry because increasing oil sales will restore the country’s financial assets more quickly than developing any other Iraqi industry. The new government wants to rebuild the oil industry because selling more oil will bring money back into the country faster than developing any other industry.
Checkout: Ronan Anthony Villency
Given that the Arab Gulf region holds up to 65% of the world’s oil reserves, with Iraq contributing 12%, proven oil reserves in Iraq will be money in the bank. Once its oil fields are restored, Iraq has the potential to convert oil into cash. When this occurs, Iraq could produce up to 2 billion barrels per year. If each barrel was worth $100, Iraq could earn $200 billion per year.
Many other economic benefits will undoubtedly accrue once people prosper and build businesses. For example, the personal income tax rate will be raised from 15% to 20%. In comparison, the average personal income tax rate in a developed country is 39.6% in the United States.
- The Ottoman Empire once ruled Iraq.
Iraq once held a prestigious position on the international stage. It was once part of the land known as the “cradle of civilization,” according to historians. In between the lands straddling the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, great empires such as the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians rose and fell. After the war ended, Persia ruled from Baghdad to the Euphrates Valley, and they kept control of the lands they had taken over until the Middle Ages.
In 1638, the Ottoman Turks turned into an army that could not be stopped. They took over land from the Tigris Valley to the Euphrates Valley. At its height, the Ottoman Empire covered all of southeastern Europe up to the city gates of Vienna. It also covered Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Israel in the Middle East. It also ruled most of North Africa, stretching as far west as Algeria, and most of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Ottoman Empire ruled Iraq twice and referred to the country as “Ottoman Iraq.”
The Ottoman Empire’s Suleiman the Magnificent captured Baghdad in 1534 and ruled Iraq until 1704. To make administration easier, he divided Iraq into four provinces known as “eyalets.” He divided Iraq into Baghdad Eyalet, Shahrizor Eyalet, Basra Eyalet, and Mosul Eyalet. A relic of this period of history can still be found in Iraq today in the form of the deep schism within Islam between Shia and Sunni. This schism arose during the early Safavid-Ottoman conflicts in Iraqi history. From 1623 to 1639, the Ottoman Empire fought for control of Mesopotamia with Safavid Persia.
Although Iraq briefly escaped the clutches of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Turks retook control in 1831. The Ottoman Empire now divided Iraq into “vilayets,” or regions, dividing the country into Mosul Vilayet, Baghdad Vilayet, and Basra Vilayet. Many of these regional names may be familiar to you. For example, you may have heard of the “battle for Mosul” between Iraqi or coalition forces and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 10,000 people, mostly civilians, between October 2016 and July 2017.
- During World War I, the British seized Iraq.
From July 1914 to November 1918, World War I rearranged the geopolitical power hierarchy and altered the world map. Because it mobilised over 70 million soldiers, the First World War was dubbed “the war to end all wars” by its contemporaries.
The “Mesopotamian campaign” of WWI in the Middle East was a series of battles between the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire. After forcing the Ottoman Turks to retreat, Britain seized control of Iraq from the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled Iraq for a long time—from the mid-16th century to 1916.
The League of Nations granted Britain a mandate over Iraq in 1920. For 17 years after the British government established a Hashemite monarchy. Iraq gained independence after being admitted to the League of Nations. Iraq gained independence on October 3, 1932.
- The British Iraq was dragged into World War II.
Even though Britain no longer ruled Iraq, British influence stayed because the Iraqi government needed economic and military help from Britain. This made the people angry, which led to many failed uprisings against British influence peddling.
World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945. Iraqi revolutionaries attempted to secede from Britain once more. Iraq attempted to align with the Axis forces this time. The British military intervention crushed the revolutionaries and forced the Iraqi government to support the Allies. The Iraqi people did not finally overthrow the British-controlled Iraqi monarchy until 1958. Military and civilian governments attempted to rule until Saddam Hussein seized power.
- Saddam Hussein’s Rise and Fall
General Saddam Hussein was the Iraqi government’s strongman in 1976. Even though he wasn’t the official head of government, he had a lot more power than the Iraqi constitution let him. He strengthened his grip on the Ba’ath party and the Iraqi government as a de facto leader. He took over as dictator of Iraq in 1979.
He ruled with an iron fist for 30 years. His statue stood outside every village, and his portrait hung in every government building. To gain his approval, the country appeared to name almost everything after him—mosques, cities, suburbs, and airports. Iraqi poets said his name in public and wrote poems about how just hearing his name made Iraqis want to do better. Under his rule, ethnic pogroms were common, and his tyrannical regime executed people who were said to have made jokes about him.
Even after two bad military moves against Iran and Kuwait, the Iraqi people still thought Hussein was invincible. Even after two bad military moves against Iran and Kuwait, the Iraqi people still thought Hussein was invincible. Hussein did not fall from power until a US-led coalition overthrew him in 1991.
He eluded American forces for eight months during the occupation of Iraq. After being brought to trial by American soldiers who were occupying Iraq, he denied that Iraq had lost the Gulf War and bragged about beating the US badly. He even demanded that an Iraqi judge grant him immediate immunity because he was still Iraq’s President. During his trial, he wouldn’t say sorry for any of his crimes against humanity, like when he let poisonous gas out over Hajaba, killing 5,000 Kurdish villagers. Following the trial, an Iraqi court sentenced him to death by hanging.
HOW TO STAY UP TO DATE ON DINAR NEWS
Suppose you are investing in the Iraqi dinar or plan to invest in the future. In that case, it is critical that you monitor foreign exchange rates, Iraqi economic news, and any information indicating that the Iraqi dinar will revalue. While you could do this by reading Iraqi news websites or visiting the Central Bank of Iraq’s website, sorting through relevant Iraqi currency news is often tedious and time-consuming.
Fortunately, many blogs, such as Treasury Vault and The Dinar Chronicles, have done the legwork for you.
While the Dinar Chronicles blog provides excellent updates and tries to provide the most recent dinar coverage, we believe that the dinar chronicles intel does not go far enough in assisting readers in gaining an in-depth understanding of the cultural, political, and economic changes shaping Iraq’s history and the fate of the Iraqi dinar.
Treasury Vault takes a slightly different approach to provide Iraqi dinar updates to our readers. We discuss the Iraqi dinar and try to provide later dinar intel, but we also discuss other long-term foreign currency you should consider in addition to the Iraqi dinar IQD. We also examine what is happening in the Iraqi economy and global currency markets, and we provide editorials on the Iraqi dinar to help you understand the potential for the Iraqi currency to revalue.
We don’t rely on a guest post or an unsubstantiated tweet to provide investment advice and currency news to our US and global readers. Rather, our backgrounds are in finance and historical research. We owe it to you, our readers, to provide you with the most recent updates, dinar recaps, and commentaries. We monitor global currency trends and write articles about how a country’s foreign and spot exchange rates operate. They are best placed to read the signs that point to a possible Iraqi dinar revaluation (RV).
INVESTORS SHOULD KNOW THESE HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT THE IRAQI DINAR
You are better equipped than most dinar investors relying solely on rumored dinar intel. You will also be much better able to figure out the value of information in popular blog posts about the dinar. While many people are preoccupied with the question, “Did Donald Trump buy Iraqi dinar?” A thorough understanding informs the best investment decisions of Iraq’s history. Keeping a close eye on Iraq’s history will help you figure out what the most recent news about Iraq means.
