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Here is an authentic Saudi Arabia 1 Riyal silver coin recovered from the famous World War II Liberty ship SS John Barry. This piece comes with its original Certificate of Authenticity from the 1994 deep-sea salvage.
Full History – Why These Coins Were on the SS John Barry: In the middle of World War II, the United States desperately needed Saudi oil. The Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) was rapidly expanding facilities at the new oil town of Dhahran to supply the Allied war effort.
Saudi Arabia at the time did not use paper money. Workers building the refineries, pipelines, and housing had to be paid in silver coin. To solve the shortage, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia struck millions of Saudi 1-Riyal silver coins (KM#18, dated AH 1354 / 1935) specifically for this purpose.
In 1944 one of these shipments — roughly 3 million freshly struck silver riyals — was loaded onto the American Liberty ship SS John Barry. The coins were packed in canvas bags inside wooden crates marked “Dhahran” and formed part of a larger wartime cargo that also included oil-field equipment.
On 28 August 1944, while sailing alone off the coast of Oman in the Straight of Hormuz, the John Barry was torpedoed by the German submarine U-859. She broke in two and sank in over 2,600 metres (8,500 feet) of water — deeper than most recovery technology of the era could reach. Two crewmen were lost; the survivors were rescued the next day. The entire silver cargo went to the bottom of the Arabian Sea.
For fifty years the wreck and its treasure remained untouched. In 1994 a pioneering deep-sea salvage operation finally reached the site. Using the dynamically positioned vessel Flex LD and a massive underwater grab designed by the French institute IFREMER, the team recovered approximately 1.3 million of the silver riyals (about 17 tons) from the No. 2 hold. The rest of the coins, and any other cargo that may still lie there, remain on the seabed.
This coin is one of the pieces brought up in that historic 1994 recovery. It comes with the original Certificate of Authenticity issued by the salvage company (serial 2017408).
Coin Details-
Country: Saudi Arabia
Denomination: 1 Riyal
Date: AH 1354 (1935 AD)
Catalog: KM# 18
Composition: .917 fine silver
Weight: approx. 11.6 grams
Actual silver weight: ~0.3437 troy oz
Obverse (the side with the crossed swords and palm trees)
Outer legend around the top:
→ “King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”
Inside the beaded circle:
→ “Abd al-Aziz bin Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’ud”
(the full name of the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz)
Reverse (the side with the denomination)
Main legend:
→ “One Saudi Arabian Riyal”
Below the circle:
→ “Struck in the Holy City of Mecca”
Date: ١٣٥٤
→ 1354 AH (which equals 1935 AD)
Value: ١
→ 1
Condition: Typical shipwreck-recovered appearance — original surfaces with some darker toning and light sea-salvage characteristics from 50 years on the ocean floor. Details remain clear and fully legible. Comes as shown with the certificate and protective holders.
Ships USPS with tracking
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