KUWAIT, Emirate. Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah. AD

KUWAIT, Emirate. Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah. AD 1959-1965. AV Pattern 'Sovereign' (21.5mm, 7.94 g, 12h). Struck at the Royal Mint in London. Dually dated AH 1379 and AD 1961. Bust of Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah facing slightly to left, name and titles around / Dhow under sail to right, dates below. cf. Spink Zurich 27, 1 June 1988, lot 233. Minor marks, ruler's bust a little softly struck. AU. Excessively rare.

Apparently produced in the months before Kuwait gained independence, it appears that these coins were struck on sovereign blanks at the Royal Mint in London. They have no denomination, although their gold value at the time would have been equivalent to three Kuwaiti dinars. Unlike other Kuwaiti coins struck in AD 1961 and later which depict a dhow, the vessel on this pattern type is sailing to the right rather than to the left.



It has been suggested that these extremely rare coins were prepared as presentation pieces, to be given to selected individuals by Emir Abdullah Al-Sabah himself, rather than as patterns for Kuwait's post-Independence coinage. This might explain why they do not bear a stated denomination.