"It was run as a storehouse for money, giving no
interest on deposits, adhering to the strict Moslem teaching which regards all systems and
rates as immoral ... The bank office consisted of a small courtyard, where three men
squatted beside a pile of sacks: I watched them emptying each one and arranging the coins
that fell out of them in heaps, scooping them up with wooden shovels. The director, with
his trim efficiency and European clothes, tried unsuccessfully to impart a business-like
air to the leisurely task of moving silver round the little yard."
Due to the Islamic traditions of Yemen, banking as it is
known in the West had not been a viable option, since earning and paying interest go
against the teachings of the Koran. Until the revolution, and probably for some time
afterwards, people had deposited their money with certain families who undertook to
protect it, for a fee. It was one of the disappointments of the revolution that the
sanctity of the houses belonging to these families was not always honoured and during the
turmoil of the revolt in 1962 some houses were looted.
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In the years prior to the revolution several studies had
been made into the monetary affairs of Yemen - one by the United Nations (1953), one by an
expert from Saudi Arabia, and one by the National Bank of Egypt (1959). All reports from
these studies recommended the introduction of a national currency for Yemen which should
be supervised by a state issuing authority. The recommendations of the earlier reports
gained momentum in 1958 after the federation between Egypt, Syria and Yemen was formed.
The charter, signed by the three nations, included provision for the re-organization of
the monetary system in each of the states of the Federation. Subsequently Federal Law No.3
(March 1958) was promulgated, empowering the Central Bank of the
U.A.R. to establish a
currency authority in Yemen. Federal Law No.4 was introduced at the same time, providing
for the introduction of Yemeni bank notes and coins. However these laws were never
implemented.
After the revolution in 1962, Egyptian advisers again
investigated the monetary situation in Yemen and their recommendations saw the
promulgation of a Republican law in July 1963. This law allowed for the introduction of a
new silver Yemeni rial, as well as the smaller denominations of 20-, 10- and 5-buqsha
coins in silver, and 1-buqsha and 1/2-buqsha coins in copper. Under the law which
introduced the new currency, the coins were declared legal tender for amounts up to 20
rials.
The next step in the development of the republican
currency was the introduction of Law No.6 on 3 February 1964 whereby the Yemen Currency
Board was established and provision was made for the issuing of bank notes. The law was
obviously a rubber stamp on the proceedings which were largely controlled by the
Egyptians, as the first bank notes were issued on 8 February 1964, just five days after
the law authorizing their introduction was passed. The bank notes were declared to be
legal tender for all debts, public and private for any amount.
The Yemen Currency Board was administered by a board of
six directors, consisting of the Minister of the Treasury who was also the chairman, a
vice-chairman, the general manager of the Currency Board -responsible for the day-to-day
administration - and three directors appointed by the President of the Republic. The
capital of the Currency Board was fixed at two million rials, half of which was paid by
the Yemeni government at the inception of the Board, with the other half due to be paid
within a year.
Illustrations on the bank notes
The various llustrations appearing on the bank notes issued by the Yemen Currency Board and the
Central Bank of Yemen can be grouped into roughly three categories - items from Southern
Arabian antiquity, buildings, and panoramas. The earlier notes have an emphasis towards
the illustration of items from Southern Arabian antiquity and the later notes towards
buildings, and mountain and city views.
What is particularly interesting about the selection of
illustrations that appear on the notes, is the source of the pictures on which they were
based. The original artwork for many of the illustrations can be traced to several major
sources, and it would seem that the manufacturers of the notes worked from these sources
in lieu of original artwork supplied by the issuing authorities. While this is
understandable for the two issues of the Yemen Currency Board which were prepared by the
Egyptians while they were supporting the civil war, it is strange that steps were not
taken by the authorities in Yemen to produce specific artwork for subsequent issues -
although the onus is often on the bank note designer to supply designs for approval rather
than the issuing authority to stipulate the design.
There are four sources which have been identified as the
origin of the artwork used as the basis for many of the illustrations on the Yemeni bank
notes. The four sources are:
- Pictures from Yemen by Richard Gerlach;
- articles by Thomas J. Abercrombie in two editions of the National
Geographic magazine;
- a number of works by Hans Helfritz, and
- photographs of artefacts discovered by the archaeological
expeditions of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, led by Wendell Phillips.
The principal source of photographs from which many of the
illustrations on Yemeni bank notes were drawn is Pictures from Yemen by Richard
Gerlach which was published in English in 1961 under the imprint of "Edition
Leipzig", and originally published in German in 1960 by F. A. Brockhaus in Leipzig,
with the title Bilder aus dem Jemen. As the title suggests, the book abounds with
photographs - colour and black-and-white - and is a wonderful record of North Yemen before
the revolution. Eight of the photographs were used as the original artwork for
illustrations on the Yemeni notes.
The two articles in the National Geographic magazine,
which provide photographs that were subsequently adapted for use as illustrations on the
bank notes, were written by Thomas J. Abercrombie and published in March 1964 and October
1985. The March 1964 edition contains the article entitled Behind the Veil of Troubled
Yemen, and the magnificent colour photographs by the author that accompany the article
provide the original artwork. The October 1985 edition of the National Geographic magazine
contains an article entitled Arabia’s Frankincense Trail, which is accompanied
by photographs taken by the author and Lynn Abercrombie. This article provides a
photograph of an alabaster stele.
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There are three books by Hans Helfritz which contain black
and white photographs which were subsequently used as illustrations on the Yemeni notes.
The first two works were Chicago der Weuste (Chicago of the Desert) and Land
ohne Schatten (Land without Shade) which were originally published in German and
subsequently translated into a number of languages. In 1936 the two books were published
in America as one volume - Land without Shade. Helfritz then published a third work
Gluckliches Arabien (Fortunate Arabia), which was originally published in
Switzerland in 1956, and then two years later in England by George Allen & Unwin under
the title The Yemen - A Secret Journey. A number of the photographs in the
books appear in more than one publication and the selection of photographs differs in
various editions. However, all three photographs which are used as the basis for the
illustrations on the Yemeni notes can be found in The Yemen - A Secret Journey.
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The fourth source of illustrations is a collection of
photographs of items discovered on several archaeological expeditions described in Qataban
and Sheba by Wendell Phillips, published in 1955. In the years following the
expeditions, some of the photographs of the antiquities discovered in Yemen were printed
in numerous publications. The photograph of the Lion of Timna, which is used as the
original source for illustrations on the bank notes, is printed in Qataban and Sheba and
in the American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 59, 1955. The next
edition of the Journal (Vol. 60, 1956) carries three illustrations of the bronze figure of
Ma’adkarib, one of which is the image on which the engraving on the bank notes is
based..
There is undoubtedly one other source for the
illustrations used on Yemeni bank notes, but it is yet to be identified. This work would
probably contain the photograph of King Dhamer Ali’s head and some of the villages
and views used on the notes, although there could be two or more works used as the
references for these illustrations.
Part two: Bank notes of South
Yemen
