{"product_id":"ly37b-10-dinars-1972-unc","title":"Libya P-37b 10 Dinars ND (1972) XF—Anti-Italian Resistance Hero—Horses—LARGE note","description":"\u003cp\u003eLibya’s first dinar series, issued just two years after Gaddafi’s revolution replaced the monarchy, opens with one of the most charged portraits in African numismatics: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Omar_Mukhtar\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eOmar Mukhtar\u003c\/a\u003e, the resistance leader the Italians hanged in 1931. Putting him on the new republic’s highest-denomination note was a political statement as much as a design choice. The P-37b is the more common of the two issued varieties — distinguished from the scarcer P-37a by a Quranic verse inscription at lower right — and the one most collectors encounter. Printed by Bradbury Wilkinson on a large 192 × 94 mm sheet, it is an imposing note.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFront\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eColors:\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBackground: multicolor underprint\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDominant engraving: blue-grey\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePortrait of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Omar_Mukhtar\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eOmar Mukhtar\u003c\/a\u003e at left\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArabic inscriptions: \u003cem\u003eمصرف ليبيا المركزي\u003c\/em\u003e (Central Bank of Libya); \u003cem\u003eعشرة دنانير ليبية\u003c\/em\u003e (Ten Libyan Dinars); legal tender and issuing authority declarations\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eQuranic verse inscription at lower right (P-37b only)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eScript: Arabic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSignatures: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=Kasem+Sherlala+Central+Bank+Libya\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKasem M. Sherlala\u003c\/a\u003e, Governor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBack\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eColors:\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBackground: multicolor underprint\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDominant engraving: blue-gray\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThree horsemen at center — a classic image of Libyan Bedouin cavalry\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBilingual inscription: \u003cem\u003eCentral Bank of Libya\u003c\/em\u003e \/ \u003cem\u003eTen Dinars\u003c\/em\u003e in Latin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eScript: Latin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eOther Characteristics\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVarieties:\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eP-37a — ND (1971), without Quranic inscription at lower right\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eP-37b — ND (1972), with Quranic inscription at lower right — this note\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eP-37s — Specimen\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCatalog numbers: P-37b; Numista N#223018\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWatermark: Coat of Arms\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComposition: Paper\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSize: 192 × 94 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIssuing entity: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Central_Bank_of_Libya\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCentral Bank of Libya\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrinter: Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, United Kingdom (1856–1990)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDemonetized: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Demonetization_(currency)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eYes\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSignatures: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=Kasem+Sherlala+Central+Bank+Libya\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKasem M. Sherlala\u003c\/a\u003e, Governor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCurrency: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Libyan_dinar\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eLibyan Dinar (1971–date)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOfficial language(s): \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arabic\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eArabic\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout Libya\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOrigin of name: from the ancient Greek \u003cem\u003eLibúe\u003c\/em\u003e, used by the Greeks to refer to all of North Africa west of Egypt; derived from the name of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Libu\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eLibu\u003c\/a\u003e, a Berber tribe recorded in Egyptian texts as early as the 13th century BC\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCapital: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tripoli\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTripoli\u003c\/a\u003e (city pop. ~1.2 million; metro ~1.8 million)\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOrigin of name: from the Greek \u003cem\u003eTripolis\u003c\/em\u003e, meaning \"Three Cities\" — referring to the three ancient Phoenician settlements of Oea (modern Tripoli), Sabratha, and Leptis Magna\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePopulation: ~7.4 million (UN 2023) — similar to Bulgaria or Washington State\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArea: 1,759,541 km² \/ 679,362 mi² — similar to Alaska or the combined area of France, Germany, Spain, and Italy\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGDP per capita at \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Purchasing_power_parity\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePPP\u003c\/a\u003e: ~$13,000 (est.) — heavily dependent on oil; severely disrupted by civil conflict since 2011\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMain exports: crude oil (~95% of export revenue), natural gas, petrochemicals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBorders: Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Egypt; Mediterranean Sea (north)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOfficial\/spoken language: Arabic — official; Berber (Tamazight) and Tuareg spoken by minorities\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEthnicities: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arab%E2%80%93Berber\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eArab-Berber\u003c\/a\u003e (~97%), \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tuareg_people\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTuareg\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tebu_people\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTebu\u003c\/a\u003e, and other minorities\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMemberships: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_Nations\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eUnited Nations\u003c\/a\u003e (1955); \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arab_League\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eArab League\u003c\/a\u003e (1953); \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/African_Union\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAfrican Union\u003c\/a\u003e (2002); \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/OPEC\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eOPEC\u003c\/a\u003e (1962)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSovereignty:\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhoenician and Greek colonies (7th–6th century BC) — Carthaginian and Cyrenaean settlements along the coast\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRoman province (146 BC–643 AD) — Leptis Magna becomes one of the empire’s great cities; birthplace of Emperor Septimius Severus\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArab-Islamic conquest (643) — Islam and Arabic language take hold\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOttoman rule (1551–1911) — Libya incorporated into the Ottoman Empire as the province of Tripolitania\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eItalian colonization (1911–1943) — brutal conquest; Omar Mukhtar leads 20-year resistance; executed 1931\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBritish and French administration (1943–1951)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKingdom of Libya (1951–1969) — first African country to gain independence via the UN; King Idris I\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGaddafi’s coup (1969) — Colonel Muammar Gaddafi overthrows the monarchy; establishes the Libyan Arab Republic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRepublic \/ Jamahiriya (1969–2011) — this note issued during this period\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCivil war and NATO intervention (2011) — Gaddafi killed; state collapses into competing factions\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDivided governance (2011–date) — two rival governments; ongoing conflict\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eLibya Unfiltered\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLibya has more oil per capita than almost any country on earth. It also has two governments, neither of which fully controls the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeptis Magna — the Roman city on Libya’s coast — is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the world. It is largely unexcavated. It sits in a war zone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGaddafi ruled for 42 years. He abolished money at one point, declared private trade illegal, and renamed the months of the calendar. February became “Lights.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLibya’s population is 90% urban — one of the highest rates in Africa — despite being 90% desert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Great Man-Made River: Gaddafi built the largest irrigation pipeline in the world, pumping ancient fossil water from aquifers beneath the Sahara to coastal cities. It still runs. No one is sure how long the aquifers will last.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOmar Mukhtar was 73 years old when the Italians captured and hanged him. He had been fighting them for 20 years. His last words, according to witnesses: \u003cem\u003eWe will not surrender. We win or we die.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFive Years Before the Human Catastrophe\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis note was issued in 1972, three years after Gaddafi’s coup and a decade before the worst of his excesses. Libya in 1972 was flush with oil money, building infrastructure, and projecting a kind of revolutionary optimism. The dinar was strong. The note was large, well-printed, and serious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePutting Omar Mukhtar on the 10 Dinar — the man who resisted Italian colonialism for two decades before being publicly executed — was Gaddafi’s way of writing his own origin story onto the currency. Resistance. Anti-imperialism. The new Libya as heir to the old defiance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Man on the Note\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Omar_Mukhtar\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eOmar Mukhtar\u003c\/a\u003e (c. 1858–1931) was a Quranic teacher who became the military commander of the Libyan resistance against Italian colonization. For 20 years he led guerrilla campaigns in the Jebel Akhdar mountains, surviving repeated Italian offensives. The Italians eventually captured him in 1931, tried him in a military court in four days, and hanged him publicly in front of 20,000 prisoners of war — a deliberate act of humiliation that backfired. He became a martyr across the Arab world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnthony Quinn played him in the 1981 film \u003cem\u003eLion of the Desert\u003c\/em\u003e. Gaddafi funded the production. The film was banned in Italy until 2009.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003ePrinted by Bradbury Wilkinson\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bradbury_Wilkinson\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBradbury Wilkinson and Company\u003c\/a\u003e of New Malden, Surrey printed banknotes and stamps for governments worldwide from 1856 until the firm was absorbed into De La Rue in 1990. Their intaglio work is characterized by fine-line engraving and deep ink relief — the kind of printing you can feel with a fingertip. The blue-gray engraving on this note is a Bradbury Wilkinson production at its most restrained and authoritative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eOwn This Document of Libya, Before and After\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a \u003cstrong\u003eUNC (Uncirculated)\u003c\/strong\u003e example of P-37b — the 1972 variety with the Quranic inscription, signed by Governor Kasem M. Sherlala. At this grade, the blue-gray engraving is sharp, the multicolor underprint is vivid, and the large format commands attention in any album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt ships in a protective sleeve. A note from the first years of a new currency, a new republic, and a revolution that hadn’t yet shown what it would become.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World Money Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52002558411063,"sku":"LY37bXF","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0969\/7165\/3431\/files\/37b-XF-o.jpg?v=1776568468","url":"https:\/\/worldmoneystore.com\/products\/ly37b-10-dinars-1972-unc","provider":"World Money Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}