This 1,000 ouguiya never went into circulation: the note, dated 28 November 1981, remained an unissued design. The Central Bank of Mauritania was apparently looking for a replacement for the 1974 series at the time and considering proposals from different security printers; an unissued 1977 specimen from Britain’s De La Rue is also known.

The front bears the portrait of a bearded man, the very figure who has served as the watermark on all the country’s notes since 1974 and whose name catalogues still do not give. Among the scenes on the back is a mining plant.

The design was produced by Germany’s Giesecke & Devrient without its imprint on the note. It was not approved, and the old series went on being issued with new dates and signatures until 2002.

An unissued design portraying the «nameless» bearded man of the watermarks, it suits an advanced Mauritania collection and a set of notes that never reached circulation. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

If this banknote has caught your interest, the VPcoins catalogue has other issues from the same issuer worth seeing.