Gold dinar

According to locals in Mosul and the Twitter accounts of ISIS members and other people, the Islamic State has issued its own currency, the dinar. As noted here, the ISIS dinar is available in two gold coins, three silver coins and two bronze coins, minted with Islamic State approved imagery.

One such Tweet announcing its availability today, is below.

 New type of terrorist financing

 A terrorist organization issuing its own currency is an insidious new type of terrorist financing because not only is the whole currency based on and funded by, terrorist activities but each use of the ISIS dinar for goods and services is an act of terrorist financing.

£100 million to mint

Just before Christmas, ISIS members had conversations on Twitter and Ask.fm, two of their prominent recruitment platforms, about the progress of the new ISIS dinar in which, inter alia, they said was costing the organization £100 million to mint.

It is interesting from a counter-terrorist financing supply side that they priced out the cost in reference to UK pounds, suggesting that the suppliers of the components to manufacture the currency are in the UK. It is, of course, an indictable criminal offense in most countries to sell goods or services of any type to the Islamic State, or to provide any material support to them.

 ISIS starts advertising the dinar

In early January, ISIS plastered billboards in several places in Mosul, including the University of Mosul, announcing the advent of the ISIS dinar and extolling its virtues and benefits. Below is an image of the billboards. The goal of the dinar is stated as intended to save Syrians and Iraqis from the “unjust and satanic financial system” in the rest of the world. The ISIS billboard ads say that the ISIS dinar will replace the Syrian pound and Iraqi dinar.

 Dinar priced in USD

According to the billboard ads, ISIS said that it will begin circulating the dinar soon. The designated value, according to the billboards will be US$139 per one gold dinar. Interesting to note that despite the alleged aversion to Western currencies, financial system and culture, ISIS pegged its homegrown dinar to the US dollar.

The move coincides with the opening of ISIS’ first bank called the Islamic Bank in Mosul. People in Mosul said that all of the bank employees are members of ISIS.

As we know, this is not the first Islamic State, and the creation of an Islamic State dinar is a step back in time to recreate the dinar that existed in the 7th Century under the first Islamic State.

Collecting it will be terrorist financing

 The ISIS dinar is not necessarily a bad thing for counter-terrorist financing in one way – it will make the Islamic State an island financially and have the effect of creating financial isolation. On the other hand, there are ISIS sympathizers in the UK already asking about acquiring it on Ask.fm and no doubt there will be some external sales of the dinar to support ISIS. As well, coin collectors and others who are not ISIS sympathizers will look to collect the dinar for its novelty value, although the purchase and possession of an ISIS dinar would be terrorist financing, ergo illegal.

http://www.antimoneylaunderinglaw.com/2015/01/isis-allegedly-ready-to-circulate-prototype-of-its-new-currency-pegged-to-us-dollar.html