I was walking the floor of the US-Mex Coin Show in October 2025 when I spotted a coin in a dealer's case.It wasn't something I normally would purchase for the collection, but then I reconsidered and asked to see it. The coin was a 1980 Iraq 250 Fils graded PCGS MS66. The sticker price was $225, and I ended up purchasing the coin.
One of the things I look for in adding to my collection is historical pieces. While a piece from 1980 is something that many would eschew as "historical," it actually is now nearly a half-century old and, when viewed with the modern lens, is very historical. The coin is a circulating commemorative for the first anniversary of the Iraq President Saddam Hussein. His rule would shape the next two decades of the Middle East and bring about multiple wars -- two with major United States involvement.
Hussein officially became president of Iraq on July 16, 1979. He succeeded his cousin Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, however Hussein had already been Iraq’s de facto leader for years. What followed was known as the 1979 Ba’ath Party Purge, which occurred on July 22 of that year during a special meeting of the Ba’ath Party leadership; Hussein accused senior officials of plots against him, resulting in 66 officials being arrested at the meeting, 22 of whom were later executed.
What followed after the leadership purge was the expansion of the Mukhbarat, or secret police who vowed loyalty only to Hussein and whose mission was to eliminate dissidents. With his establishment of one-man rule in Iraq, Hussein started a cult of personality establishing himself as the “al-Ra’is” or leader, releasing propaganda showcasing him as a modern Saladin defending the Arab honor and serving as a champion of the Iraqi nation. Hussein's image and speeches were plastered everywhere. It was a frenetic period in the Middle East, with the Islamic Revolution in Iran also occurring in 1979, foreign policy of Iraq changing, and Iran supporting Iraqi dissidents and border clashes. The Iran-Iraq War began in 1980, leading to as many as 1.5 million deaths.
One of Saddam Hussein’s propaganda pieces was seen among his country's monetary system. In 1980, the 250 fils coin served as a circulating commemorative issue featuring President Saddam Hussein himself. The obverse features the dates of both 1980 and 1400, representing the AD and AH calendars, and the denomination of 250 all in Arabic. The bottom legend translates in English to “Marking the First Anniversary of Taking Power, Mr. President, Leader of the Party of the Revolution.” The reverse features the portrait of Saddam Hussein and below is an inscription that in English translates to “The President and Leader, the Struggler Saddam Hussein.”
Another interesting fact about these coins was that they were not minted in Iraq but rather by the Royal Mint in England; in 1980, Iraq lacked the equipment to strike high-quality circulation coinage at scale. This required Iraq to contract with mints, such as the Royal Mint, for coinage production; previous contracts to produce Iraqi coinage prior to Hussein’s rule were retained by the Royal Mint. While this wouldn’t be the only coin featuring Hussein for 1980, it would be the only one in circulation commemorating his presidency. The mintage is not documented, but one source suggests only 250,000 of these coins were minted.
Conditional factors make this coin scarce, with many being heavily bagmarked or circulated. Just 23 examples have been certified by PCGS, and only two have been graded MS66, with just a single MS67 example. Valuation is tricky with raw coins achieving prices over $100 USD; a certified MS66 example sold for $528 in 2022, and a different MS66 specimen sold for $240 in 2023. Yet, the coin remains a relatively inexpensive piece of history.