Banknote News: Illegal Issue: Bahrain 20 Dinars

I recently came across some information pertaining to a point of interest I've come across on several occasions but, until now, had not had an opportunity to research. This point of interest pertains to Bahrains 20 Dinar note from the 1993 issue, listed as P16. This banknote caught my attention many years ago, when I realized that it was available for purchase at a fraction of its face value -- with some exceptions being listed for 5 to 15 times that price on eBay, in similar condition. Truly, this was an obvious anomaly. I could not figure out why there seemed to be two different ranges of pricing for this one banknote until I delved into the details more recently.

Apparently, after the original order for the printing of this banknote there was a second printing that "was ordered using a false authorization" (from Standard Catalog of World Paper Money - SCWPM). Apparently a massive confidence trick was executed, and an Argentinian security printer had accepted a contract for the printing of Bahrains 20 Dinar note, with minor modifications ( from The Lost Note of Bahrain, by Peter Symes) -- however, this order was not authorized or issued by any representatives of Bahrain. Subsequent to the release of these banknotes to parties unknown, their deposits attracted the attention of the Bahrain Monetary Agency, and it was quickly determined that a large quantity of counterfeit 20 Dinar notes were in circulation.

It was determined that there were several details that differed between the original authorized printing of Bahrain P16 and the second and unauthorized printing of the same note. The most visible and obvious identifying trait is as follows: relative to the authorized first printing of the banknote, the unauthorized printing has a fairly large gap between the two Arabic serial number prefix letters to the left of the serial number on the front of the banknote. This difference is clearly illustrated as follows:

Shortly after the discovery of these counterfeits, all versions of P16 were withdrawn from circulation and were replaced with a orange version of this banknote ( P23 ), which also included a hologram at the bottom left on the face of the banknote. For the time being it would appear as though the modern security features on Bahrains current paper money have prevented further large scale counterfeiting -- at least of higher denomination notes. However, this historical anomaly accounts for the pricing "double standard" that can be found on eBay: unauthorized banknotes for a fraction of the price, and the authorized ones at a premium well above face value.