This 100 baisa of 1991 is the coin Oman devoted to the centenary of its own coinage: on the reverse the date «١٣١١» stands beside «١٤١١», and between them lie a hundred years of the country’s monetary history.

The reverse is built as a quotation. At the centre is a fortress within a circle, and around it runs the English legend «IMAUM OF MUSCAT & OMAN SULTAN FESSALBIN TOORKY» in its old spelling, the way the first coins of Muscat were signed under Sultan Faisal bin Turki, who ruled from 1888 to 1913. The Arabic inscription «الذكرى المئوية لإصدار أول سك نقدي في مسقط», «the centenary of the first coinage issued in Muscat», explains the anniversary, and «100 YEARS OF COINAGE» needs no translation.

The obverse shows the state emblem above the value in a circle, the name «قابوس بن سعيد», «Qaboos bin Said», the title «سلطان عمان» and the issuer «البنك المركزي العماني», «Central Bank of Oman». The double date «١٤١١ ١٩٩١» links the Hijri and Gregorian calendars.

The coin is bimetallic, an aluminium bronze centre set in a copper-nickel ring, so the golden disc with the fortress stands out clearly against the white. Although it was a circulating coin, its denomination was caught by reform: on 20 May 2020 coins of 100 baisa and above lost legal tender status, and the anniversary 100 baisa became a purely collectable piece.

It serves several collecting themes at once: bimetallic coins, Omani commemoratives and the history of money told on coins. In UNC grade the coin never circulated: there is no wear and both metals keep their mint lustre, with only minor storage marks possible.

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