This is not a note that entered circulation but an unadopted design: 1000 ouguiya dated 28.11.1989 and inscribed «Banque Centrale de Mauritanie», prepared by the German firm Giesecke & Devrient. The design was not adopted, and such sheets never became money.

The back shows how the designers saw the country: a standing camel, a modern ship at sea with fish leaping from the water, gantry cranes and warehouses with smokestacks, and a crescent and stars in the corners. The front has Arabic text and ornament; the watermark is a bearded man.

For a Mauritania collection, and for a set of essays and proposals, it is a vivid record of what the ouguiya could have looked like but never did. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

For those who collect banknotes by subject, whether wildlife, architecture or famous people, the VPcoins catalogue offers other themed issues too.