Islamic Dinar - Source Twitter |
Isil which is thought to be the wealthiest terror group in the world -
announced on Thursday its plans to reinstate an ancient Islamic dinar
currency using gold and silver coins
in a move "purely dedicated to God"
The self-declared state’s Treasury said it would soon be issuing another
statement to explain the new currency's exchange rate and where to find it.
The currency, based on the original dinar coins used during the Caliphate of
Uthman in 634 CE, will include seven minted coins: two gold, three silver
and two copper.
On one of the gold coins with be a symbol of seven wheat stalks and on the
other a world map.
The silver coin had three different denominations: one symbolised with a spear
and shield, another with a white minaret of Damascus and a third with the
al-Aqsa mosque - one of the holiest sites in Islam.
For the copper currency, one coin has a crescent while another more valuable
coin has a palm tree.
While the highest value gold coin will be worth about $694, its
lowest-denomination copper coin will be just seven cents.
“The purchasing power of the money they’re emitting will be wholly dependent
on what the purchasing power of gold, silver and copper are,” Steven H.
Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, told the
FT.
“The important thing is: where are they going to get the gold and copper? Isis
will have to confiscate more property through theft and the spoils of war.”
Isil is striving to establish a completely self-sufficient state, and oil
production will be part of achieving that. It in unclear how the group will
be able to resource enough of the precious metals to ensure widespread
distribution of the coins.
However, paying from it will not be a problem. Isil is thought to make as much
as £2 million a day from the oil refineries under its control in Syria and
Iraq, as well as receiving funding from supporters in the Gulf.
They are thought to earn up to £5 million a month through extortion of local
businesses as well as millions from selling off looted artefacts. In the
past year they are estimated to have made £40 million from taking hostages,
with each foreign hostage thought to be worth £3 million.
Source:
The Telegraph
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