Nejd 1/2 Riyal

The Nejd half riyal was struck using silver planchets that often derived from recycled foreign coins, a practical choice in the arid expanses of the Arabian Peninsula.

That meant coins like Spanish reales or Ottoman pieces might have found new life in Saudi mints. The design itself was straightforward: a simple Arabic inscription proclaiming the unity of Nejd under Ibn Saud, with the Hijri date on the reverse. No frills, just the essentials for a fractional currency.

Mintage figures are murky; records from that era weren't always kept meticulously, so exact numbers remain unknown. I've turned over plenty of these in my three decades, and they're sturdier than they look.

One might quip that in the coin world, recycling silver was less about going green and more about making do.