When You Need to Convert The Dinar to The Dollar

First introduced to Iraqi circulation in 1932 to replace the Indian rupee there is still very little demand for the dinar in the United States even after the fall of former President Saddam Hussein along with the rebuilding of the infrastructure and economy of the country. This is simply due to the fact that Iraq has few exports outside of the oil trade which is not even sold in the native currency but in US dollars so the status of the dinar remains a fairly exotic. Far more so than the the demand of the pre World War Two currency is the need to convert the Iraqi dinar to US dollar as trade between the people of the two nations begins to climb again.

Up until the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 all banknotes issued in the country bore an engraving of Saddam Hussein the now deposed former President of the country. While it started around 1986 with a version of the 25 dinar note it rose to prominence around 1990 and from that point until his ousting most banknotes carried his image. These notes were made of very poor grade paper and not at all like the cotton or linen mix of the US dollar. Some of these banknotes were actually suspected of being printed on inferior presses that were supposed to be used for newspapers resulting in very poor quality lithography. These notes were produced both locally in Iraq and in China.

Presently the current dinar value hovers around 1160 for every United States dollar but for the vast majority of 2012 the dinar sat at 1200. While this does mean inflation is dropping the currency is still one of the least valued in the world, just above the South Korean won. Despite the low value many Iraqi foreign born families still use the dinar to send money to family members and friends in Iraq where it may not be practical to use the dollar. Due to this an Iraqi dinar to us dollar conversion must be made. In the United States the highest number of these foreign born populations currently reside in the states of California and Michigan as well as Illinois.