Discs of Gold
Gold Discs, 1945-47. Part of the Aramcorama exhibition, courtesy of Ithra Archives. Photo by Yasir Al-Qunais.
A rare collection lies in the Aramcorama exhibition. At first glance, they would appear to be gold coins, but then on a closer look, they are actually ‘gold discs.’
Similar in design to coins, they were minted by the Philadelphia Mint in the 1940's for Aramco, and bore on one side, the U. S. Eagle and the legend
"U. S. Mint, Philadelphia, USA" and, on the other side, three lines on the fineness and weight. Aramco, required to pay royalties and other payments in gold to the Saudi government, could not obtain the gold at the monetary price fixed by the United States, therefore, the U. S. government specifically began to mint the "discs" - actually bullion in coin form for these payments
