SAR - Rial saoudien

Prior to the 20th century, foreign currencies such as the Maria Theresa Thalers and British Gold Sovereigns circulated and served the monetary needs in Arabia, with the exchange rate of 1 Gold Sovereign being equal to 5 Theresa Thalers. In the early 1900's, the Hejaz Riyal was issued as official currency.

When Saudi Arabia was established in 1932, the Saudi Riyal was introduced. The exchange rate had multiple corrections in its history, with 1 riyal originally being equal to 22 qurush coins. In 1960, the currency changed to 20 qurush coins being equal to 1 riyal. In 1952, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was established, with various reforms being introduced in order to establish a single currency system. In 1963, the currency was decimalized and a new subunit called the halala was introduced, dividing the riyal into 100 equal parts.