Timeline

• around 1920
• Countermarking (stamp: "Nejd") of circulating silver coins: Maria Theresia Thaler (locally refereed to as "Riyal Fransi"), British Indian Rupee. Other circulating coins, such as British Sovereigns or Turkish silver and subsidiary coins, were not countermarked but remained current.
• around 1925
• Countermarking (stamp: "Hejaz") of silver coins (Maria Theresia Thaler, British Indian Rupee) to make them current in conquered Hejaz (where they had been banned before).
• 1925-1926
• Issuance of subsidiary coins of ½ Piastre, dated AH1343-1344, in the name of king Abd al-Aziz for Hejaz

Timeline

• 09.01.1928
• AH:16.07.1346
• Royal decree [No. 160] on the currency for Hejaz-Nejd (later Saudi Arabia); effective immediately:
  - Base unit is the Riyal of 11 Amiri Piastres or 22 Courant Piastres, equal to 22 Turkish Piastres of the 1840 standard
  - British Sovereign is rated at 10 Riyals
  - Turkish coins are demonetized after 24.01.1928 (AH:01.02.1346).
• 1926-1930
• Issuance of subsidiary coins of 1, ½, ¼ (Courant) Piastres:
  - Issuance in the name of the Sultanate of Nejd and Kingdom of Hejaz, dated AH1344
  - Issuance in the name of the Kingdoms of Nejd and Hejaz, dated AH1346-1348
• 1928-1930
• Issuance of silver coins of 1, ½, ¼ Riyal in the name of the Kingdoms of Nejd and Hejaz, dated AH1346-1348
• around 1935
• Government decision (or royal decree) on the weight reduction of the silver coins to correspond to the standard of the British Indian Rupee (at about one half of the AH1346 coins); effective immediately:
  - Issuance of of silver coins of 1, ½, ¼ Riyal, dated AH1354-1374.
• 20.04.1952
• AH:25.07.1371
• Royal decrees [No. 1046, 1047] on the establishment of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency; effective upon constitution of the authority on 04.10.1952 (AH:14.01.1372)
• 16.10.1952
• AH:26.01.1372
• Royal decree on the creation of the Saudi Arabian Pound of 40 Riyal in gold (at 8 grams gold 0.917 fine); issuance began on 22.10.1952 (AH:03.02.1372), but the coins were not released into circulation.
• 25.07.1953
• AH:14.11.1372
• Start of issuance of paper money denominated in Saudi Arabian Riyal for use by foreign Hajj pilgrims ("Hajj Pilgrims' Receipts"):
  - Originally intended to be exchanged against silver coins by the pilgrims after their arrival in Mecca, the notes were used directly in trade and began circulating locally.
  - The receipts were demonetized on 01.02.1965 (AH:30.09.1384).
• 15.12.1957
• AH:23.05.1377
• Royal decree [No. 23] on the extending the competencies of the Monetary Agency to act as central bank; effective immediately
• 31.12.1959
• AH:01.07.1379
• Royal decree [No. 6] on adoption of the gold standard (via US Dollar peg) and decimalization of the sub-unit; effective immediately:
  - 08.01.1960 (AH:09.07.1379): Start of issuance of decimal subsidiary coinage
  - 14.06.1961 (AH:01.01.1381): Start of issuance of (regular) paper money.
• 24.11.2020
• AH:11.04.1442
• Royal decree [No. 36] on the transformation of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority into the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia; effective immediately
  - The English name had previously changed from "Monetary Agency" to "Monetary Authority" on 04.12.2016 (AH: 04.03.1438), the Arabic name had remained the same.

Valuation Regimes

• 1926-1952
• Metallic currency based on circulating silver coins. Additional gold coins were issued in 1952 but not released for circulation.
• 1952-1959
• Planned metallic currency based on circulating gold coins, but de facto fixed rate against US Dollar. The gold coins were issued in 1952 but not released for circulation.
• 1960-1975
• Fixed rate against US Dollar
• 1975-1986
• Variable rate (until 09.09.1975, fixed rate against IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) unit with a ±7.5% fluctuation margin)
• 1986-
• Fixed rate against US Dollar