Algeria KM#143 100 Dinars Coin 2021-2025 UNC Bimetallic—Ali Ammar

A circulation commemorative honoring Ali Ammar — the revolutionary fighter known as "Ali la Pointe" — this bimetallic 100-dinar coin has been issued across multiple years from 2021 onward, making it one of the most widely circulated commemorative coins in modern Algerian numismatics.

Obverse

• Design: The numeral "100" stylized and characterized, with micro-engraving within the digits
• Lettering (Arabic): بنك ألجزائر / دينار ("Bank of Algeria / Dinars")

Reverse

• Design: Bust of Ali Ammar facing forward
• Border lettering (Arabic): علي عمار ("Ali Ammar") at top; birth year 1930 and death year 1957 at sides; triple-calendar issue date at bottom (Amazigh / Gregorian / Hijri)
• Dates on coin: 1297 (Amazigh/Berber) / 2021 (Gregorian) / 1443 (Hijri) — varies by year of issue

Other Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • 1443 (2021) — Berber year 1297; most common (91% of collectors)
  • 1444 (2023) — scarce (5%)
  • 1445 (2023) — scarce (1.5%)
  • 1445 (2024) — (12%)
  • 1446 (2025) — Berber year 2975; newest issue (6%)
• Catalog numbers: KM-143; Numista N#304525
• Composition: Bimetallic — aluminium bronze center (copper 87%, nickel 13%) in stainless steel ring (AISI 430)
• Weight: 11 g
• Diameter: 29.5 mm
• Thickness: 2.30 mm
• Shape: Round
• Edge: Milled
• Orientation: Coin alignment (↑↓)
• Technique: Milled
• Issuing entity: Bank of Algeria (بنك الجزائر)
• Mint: Algiers, Algeria (1962–date)
• Demonetized: No — current legal tender
• Currency: Algerian dinar (1964–date)
• Official language: Arabic; Tamazight (Berber) (co-official since 2016)

About Algeria

• Origin of name: From the city of Algiers (Al-Jazāʼir, الجزائر), meaning "the islands" in Arabic — a reference to small islands that once lay off the coast before land reclamation
• Capital: Algiers (city pop. ~3.4 million; metro ~4.5 million)
  • Origin of name: From Arabic Al-Jazāʼir (الجزائر) meaning "the islands"; the Phoenicians called it Ikosim; the Romans Icosium; the modern city grew from a Berber settlement fortified by the Zirids in 944 AD
• Population: ~46 million (UN 2024) — comparable to Spain or Argentina
• Area: 2,381,741 km² (919,595 mi²) — largest country in Africa; comparable to Alaska and Texas combined
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$12,500 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: Crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum, ammonia, dates
• Borders: Tunisia and Libya (northeast/east), Niger and Mali (south), Mauritania and Western Sahara (southwest), Morocco (west); Mediterranean coast (north)
• Official/spoken languages: Arabic, Tamazight; French widely used in business and media
• Ethnicities: Arab-Berbers (~99%), with small communities of Tuareg and other groups
• Memberships: United Nations (1962); African Union (1963, founding member); Arab League (1962); OPEC (1969); Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
• Sovereignty: French colonial rule (1830–1962); War of Independence (1954–1962); People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (1962–date) — this coin issued during this period

Algeria Unfiltered

• Algeria is the largest country in Africa and the Arab world — at 2.38 million km², it is nearly four times the size of France, the country that colonized it for 132 years
• The Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) was one of the bloodiest decolonization conflicts of the 20th century — estimates of Algerian deaths range from 300,000 to over 1.5 million
• Algeria has three official calendars in simultaneous use: the Gregorian, the Islamic Hijri, and the Amazigh (Berber) calendar — all three appear on this coin
• Over 90% of Algeria's population lives on less than 12% of its land — the narrow Mediterranean coastal strip; the rest is Sahara
• Algeria has the largest natural gas reserves in Africa and is one of Europe's primary gas suppliers — a geopolitical leverage point that has grown significantly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine
• The Tassili n'Ajjer plateau in the Algerian Sahara contains one of the world's largest collections of prehistoric rock art — over 15,000 drawings and engravings dating back 12,000 years, depicting animals now extinct in the region including hippos and crocodiles

Ali Ammar — "Ali la Pointe"

Ali Ammar (1930–1957), known as Ali la Pointe, was one of the most iconic fighters of the Algerian War of Independence. Born in Miliana, he was a petty criminal and street boxer before being radicalized in prison and recruited by the FLN. He became a key operative in the Battle of Algiers under Saadi Yacef, carrying out assassinations and evading French forces for years in the labyrinthine Casbah. On October 8, 1957, French paratroopers located his hideout and detonated explosives rather than risk a firefight — killing Ali Ammar, a child, and two other fighters. He was 27. His story was immortalized in Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 film The Battle of Algiers, one of the most studied political films in history, still used in military and intelligence training programs worldwide.

Three Calendars on One Coin

The reverse inscription records the issue date in three simultaneous calendar systems: the Gregorian (2021), the Islamic Hijri (1443), and the Amazigh/Berber (1297 in the earliest issue). The Berber calendar — officially recognized in Algeria since 2016 — counts from 950 BC, the approximate date of the reign of the Berber king Shoshenq I (also known as Shishak), who conquered Egypt. Its inclusion on a circulation coin is a deliberate act of cultural recognition for Algeria's indigenous Amazigh population, whose identity was suppressed for decades after independence.

Own this coin and you hold a piece of Algerian revolutionary memory — the face of a 27-year-old fighter who became a symbol of resistance, struck in bimetal and circulated in the pockets of the country he died for.