'Arabia. Handbooks prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office - no 90' [‎116] (131/148)

116 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Japanese, and Mexican (all called brum, and worth
from 2s. to 25. and the Javanese, Egyptian, and
Tunisian, all more than double the brum in value.
1 he Persian kran (worth about 8-g^.) is also current.
In Nejd the other extreme exists, and not even Indian
or Persian coins are accepted. Further confusion
arises from the frequent use of " account " or imagin
ary coins in commercial transactions, and from the
lact that often different coins in use in the same
locality bear only fractional relations to one another.
Both the Hejaz and Oman have an imaginary or
'' account " currency, used for making trade calcula
tions, the actual coins being non-existent. That of
the Hejaz is as follows : —
28 devanis ... — ] rezin.
40 devanis ... = 1 bad piastre.
28 bad piastres, or) 1 TT , , u .. 1A1 7 .
40 rezins j Umla dollar (Is. 10^.).
In Oman the imaginary currency is as follows :—
20 gaz ... = 1 mohamadi.
11^ mohamadi ... = 1 dollar. -
The Hadhramaut has a distinctive currency, includ
ing the khamsie, a small copper coin of under a
halfpenny in value, three smaller copper coins, and
three silver coins—the haraf, nearly 4<i.; the okiyah,
nearly 8<i.; and the karsh, nearly 5^. Five-franc
pieces are also in use, and the ten-cent pieces of the
Dutch East Indies.
There is normally a good deal of trade in specie at
Muscat. The fluctuation in the relative values of the
dollar and the rupee tempts Indian bankers and other
speculators to import silver, both specie and bar, from
India, the import varying with the current value of
the dollar.
Much traffic in Arabia is done by barter. Camel-
hire is paid in dates (a month's hire of a good camel
is at Teima 100 measures of dates), and in all the
oases dates are a common measure of exchange.
When land is sold it is a common practice to make