Description and research notes
This note represents the earliest circulation variety of the Central Bank of Libya 10 Dinars issue introduced in 1971, featuring the portrait of Omar al-Mukhtar and classified as Pick 37a. It was released into circulation without the Arabic legal inscription along the lower margin that would later be added to the series, marking this variety as the initial production state of the issued note.
The omission of the Arabic inscription reflects the rapid transition from design approval to public release during the early years of Libya’s republican currency reform. While the portrait, guilloche framework, and security architecture had been fully finalized, secondary legal text lagged behind the production schedule, resulting in a brief circulation window for this inscription-free variant.
From a production standpoint, Pick 37a establishes the baseline issued configuration of the 10 Dinars note. The intaglio key plate, portrait relief, underprint geometry, and watermark usage correspond exactly to the final design approved for circulation. This allows later modifications to be studied in isolation, without the complication of concurrent re-engraving or security restructuring.
The portrait of Omar al-Mukhtar, rendered with deep-bite intaglio and dense cross-hatching, embodies the ideological shift of Libyan currency away from monarchical symbolism toward revolutionary and anti-colonial identity. In Pick 37a, this visual message appears in its purest issued form, unaccompanied by the later standardized legal legend.
This example is printed on imported banknote paper bearing the Arms watermark and displays strong ink saturation, crisp guilloches, and intact surface texture consistent with early production runs. The absence of the lower inscription does not affect security performance, underscoring that the change was regulatory rather than technical in nature.
As an issued note, Pick 37a circulated normally and was subject to wear and redemption. High-grade examples with original paper quality are therefore less common than later standardized issues. Within the context of the 1971–1972 series, this variety represents the opening chapter of public circulation, capturing the moment when the new republican design first entered everyday monetary use.