Saudi riyal Saudi riyal The Saudi riyal ( ""); is the currency of Saudi Arabia. It is abbreviated as The riyal has been the currency of Saudi Arabia since the country came into being and was the currency of Hejaz before Saudi Arabia was created, one of the primary currencies in the Mediterranean region during the Ottoman era. The Hejaz riyal was based on but not equivalent to the Ottoman 20 kuruş coin and was consequently divided into 20 qirsh. However, although the Hejaz riyal was the same weight as the Ottoman 20 kuruş, it was minted in .917 fineness, compared to
Denomination (currency) dinar is divided into 10 dirham, 100 qirsh/piastres, or 1000 fils. Many countries where Western European languages are spoken currently have their main units divided into 100 subunits. Some currencies that previously had subunits no longer do, because inflation has rendered the subunit useless. A prominent example is the Japanese yen, which was formerly divided into 100 sen or 1000 rin. Both subunits were demonetized at the end of 1953. Occasionally, a super unit is used as a multiple of the main unit. Examples include Korean won = 5 yang in 1893, Iranian toman 10 rials (used informally today). In