Few countries have pulled off a transformation like Oman. When Sultan Qaboos bin Said took power in 1970, the country had almost no schools, no paved roads, and no real economy. A generation later it was one of the Gulf's most stable nations, with a GDP (PPP) per capita around $40,000. Today Sultan Haitham bin Tariq leads from Muscat — a capital of sea cliffs, white forts, and frankincense markets that feels unlike anywhere else in the Gulf.

For over a century Oman lived in Britain's shadow as the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, tied into the Trucial States system before full independence in 1971. That history shows up in the notes: the early Rial Saidi issues are some of the most sought-after in the region. Even the national animal tells the story — the Arabian oryx, once extinct in the wild, brought back from the brink. Oman has a habit of that.

These Omani Rial banknotes from the Central Bank of Oman are among the most elegant in the Arabian Peninsula — and among the most rewarding to collect.