Yemen HOUTHI REBELS P-41 5000 Riyals 2016 UNC Light Blue

This is no ordinary banknote — it is a piece of wartime criminal history: a counterfeit 5000 Rials note produced by Houthi militia in 2017 in a brazen attempt to launder millions of rials, seized by Yemeni government forces in barren desert terrain north of Al-Khanjar in Jawf Governorate.

Front

• Colors: blue and green multi-color print
• Al-Muhdhar Mosque, Tarim — one of the tallest minarets in the world, a landmark of Islamic scholarship in the Hadhramaut Valley
• Arabic script throughout

Back

• Colors: blue background with green lettering
• Throne of the Queen of Bilqis (Queen of Sheba) in Ma'rib — ancient ruins of the legendary ruler referenced in the Quran, the Bible, and the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast
• Arms of Yemen
• Lettering: CENTRAL BANK OF YEMEN 5000 / 5000 FIVE THOUSAND RIALS (Latin script)

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: No known varieties of this counterfeit issue
• Catalog numbers: P-41; Numista N#401170
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 159 × 84 mm
• Issuing entity: Houthi militia (counterfeit; not approved or circulated by the Central Bank of Yemen)
• Demonetized: Never legally issued — demonetization does not apply; this note was seized before circulation
• Currency: Yemeni Rial (1990–date)
• Official language(s): Arabic

About Yemen

• Origin of name: Disputed — possibly from the Arabic yumn (happiness, felicity) or yamīn (right hand, i.e., south of Mecca); alternatively linked to the ancient kingdom of Yamnat
• Capital: Sana'a (city pop. ~3.9 million; metro ~4.6 million)
  • Origin of name: From the ancient South Arabian Sana, meaning "fortified place"; one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth
• Population: ~35 million (UN 2024) — comparable to California
• Area: 527,968 km² (203,850 mi²) — slightly larger than France, or roughly the size of Texas and Louisiana combined
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$2,500 (one of the lowest in the Arab world, devastated by ongoing civil war)
• Main exports: Crude oil, liquefied natural gas, fish, coffee (the original Mocha coffee originates here), dried and salted fish
• Borders: Saudi Arabia (north), Oman (east); Red Sea (west), Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea (south)
• Official/spoken language: Arabic; regional dialects include Mehri, Soqotri, and other South Semitic languages
• Ethnicities: Predominantly Arab; minorities include Afro-Yemenis and small communities of South Asian Yemenis
• Memberships: United Nations (founding member, 1945 — as North and South Yemen separately, unified seat 1990); Arab League (founding member, 1945); Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (1969); G77
• Sovereignty:
  • Ancient South Arabian kingdoms (1200 BC–300 AD) — including the Sabaean Kingdom (home of the legendary Queen of Sheba/Bilqis) and the Himyarite Kingdom
  • Ethiopian (Aksumite) and Sasanian Persian rule (4th–7th century AD)
  • Islamic conquest (630 AD) — Yemen among the first regions to embrace Islam
  • Various Islamic dynasties: Umayyad, Abbasid, Ziyadid, Rasulid, Tahirid (7th–16th century)
  • Ottoman rule (1538–1635; 1849–1918) — two periods of Ottoman occupation, both met with fierce resistance
  • Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen / North Yemen (1918–1962)
  • Yemen Arab Republic / North Yemen (1962–1990) — republic after military coup
  • People's Democratic Republic of Yemen / South Yemen (1967–1990) — British Aden Protectorate becomes a Marxist state
  • Republic of Yemen (1990–date) — unification of North and South; this note produced during this period
  • Yemeni Civil War (2014–date) — Houthi forces seize Sana'a; internationally recognized government retreats to Aden; Saudi-led coalition intervenes (2015); ongoing fragmentation

Yemen Unfiltered

• Yemen is the ancestral homeland of the bin Laden family — Osama bin Laden's father emigrated from Hadhramaut to Saudi Arabia
• The island of Socotra, part of Yemen, is so biologically isolated that a third of its plant species exist nowhere else on Earth — it is sometimes called the "Galápagos of the Indian Ocean"
• Mocha coffee — the original, from the port city of Al-Mokha — was the world's dominant coffee trade for centuries before Brazil and Colombia entered the picture
• Yemen has the world's largest humanitarian crisis as of 2024, with over 21 million people in need of aid
• Qat (khat), a mild stimulant leaf, is chewed by an estimated 70–90% of Yemeni men daily — and consumes an estimated 30–40% of the country's scarce water supply
• The ancient walled city of Shibam in Hadhramaut, built entirely of mud brick skyscrapers up to 11 stories tall, is called the "Manhattan of the Desert" and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Despite being one of the Arab world's poorest countries, Yemen has a rich tradition of honey production — Sidr honey from Hadhramaut sells for up to $200/kg internationally

A Counterfeit Born of War

In 2017, as Yemen's civil war fractured the country between the internationally recognized government and Houthi forces, the Houthis took an audacious step: printing their own version of the 5000 Rials note. The operation was not subtle — large quantities were seized by government forces in barren desert terrain near Al Hobil Arouq, approximately 70 kilometers north of Al-Khanjar in Jawf Governorate. The notes were never approved or circulated by the Central Bank of Yemen.

The Queen of Sheba's Throne

The reverse features the Throne of Bilqis — the legendary Queen of Sheba — at Ma'rib, the ancient Sabaean capital. The ruins of the Awwam Temple (also called the Mahram Bilqis) and the nearby Ma'rib Dam stand as testament to a civilization that flourished when Rome was still a village. The Queen of Sheba appears in the Quran (Surah An-Naml), the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 10), and the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast — making her one of the most cross-culturally significant figures in world history.

Al-Muhdhar Mosque, Tarim

The obverse showcases the Al-Muhdhar Mosque in Tarim, Hadhramaut — home to one of the tallest minarets in the Arab world at approximately 53 meters. Tarim has historically been one of the most important centers of Islamic scholarship in the world, producing scholars whose influence spread across East Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia through the Hadhramaut diaspora.

Own This Piece of Wartime History

This is not a note that circulated in a wallet or a bazaar. It was printed in secret, seized in the desert, and survived as evidence of one of the most brazen monetary crimes of the 21st century's most devastating conflict. Own a genuine artifact of Yemen's civil war — a counterfeit that tells the story of a nation torn apart, and the ancient civilization that endured beneath it.

Graded UNC. Ships in a protective sleeve. A singular addition to any collection focused on conflict currency, Middle Eastern history, or the ancient world of South Arabia.