The Sahrawi peseta (Arabic: البيزيتا الصحراوي, Spanish: Peseta saharaui) is the de jure currency of the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. It is divided into 100 céntimos, although coins with this denomination have never been minted, nor have banknotes been printed.
The first Sahrawi pesetas were minted in 1990, but they were not adopted as the national coin of Western Sahara until 1997. As this territory is mostly controlled by Morocco, the circulating currency in that part of the country is the Moroccan dirham, with Algerian dinars and Mauritanian ouguiyas circulating alongside the Sahrawi peseta in the Sahrawi refugee camps and the SADR-controlled part of Western Sahara.
As it is not an official currency and not circulating, the exchange rate is not realistic. Despite this, the Sahrawi peseta was pegged at par to the Spanish peseta and, when the latter was phased out for the euro, the rate became €1 for 166.386 Pts.
Coins
Non-commemorative coins are supposedly designated for circulation. They are made from cupronickel. The denominations are: 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200 and 500 pesetas.
There have also been commemorative issues in copper, silver and gold, as some of those shown here:
See also
- Algerian dinar
- Mauritanian ouguiya
- Moroccan dirham
- Spanish peseta
Notes
References
External links
- Catalog of the coins of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Numista)
