Five Libyan Dinars Banknote

Country: Libya
Issuer: Central Bank of Libya
Type: Horizontal note
Material: Polymer
Size: 137 × 68 mm
Serial: 2 Ba/117 4 1 9 3 2 1 8

The story

The polymer 5 dinar was issued on 15 February 2021, timed to the 10th anniversary of the 17 February 2011 revolution, and kept the design of the 2015 paper note. The front shows Tripoli’s Ottoman clock tower, one of the city’s best-known landmarks. Sources disagree on when it was built: one collector site says about 1870, another says 1901–02 under Sultan Abdulhamid. The back shows the Temple of Zeus at Cyrene, an ancient Greek city in eastern Libya. One collector site says the temple dates from the 6th century BC and was rebuilt in the 2nd century AD after a revolt in 115 AD. The site was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in danger in 2017. Numisquare calls the man in the window “The Lion of the Desert”.

Front

Ottoman-era clock tower of Tripoli with clock faces and a balcony under a small dome, scallop-shaped transparent window with a portrait of an elderly bearded man in a white head covering, mirror-like diamond shapes around the window, arabesque scrollwork and a vertical ornamental motif, governor’s signature captioned "المحافظ" (the Governor). The notable text is "مصرف ليبيا المركزي" (Central Bank of Libya), "هذه الأوراق النقدية صالحة قانونا لسداد أي مبلغ" (legal tender for any amount) and "صدرت بموجب القانون عن مصرف ليبيا المركزي" (issued by law by the Central Bank of Libya). No name is printed beside the portrait. Catalogues identify it as Omar al-Mukhtar.

Back

Ruins of the Doric Temple of Zeus at Cyrene, arabesque ornamental banner across the top, vertical ornamental motif at centre right, scallop-shaped transparent window with a ghost portrait, English text “CENTRAL BANK OF LIBYA”.