Minting money: Islamic State launches its own currency

The Islamic State militant group has claimed to have started its own currency by minting coins and described the move as a “second blow” to the United States after 9/11, according to a newly released video.

In the documentary-style video, the radical group presented its new currency, claiming to have started minting and circulating its own gold coins.

The Islamic State, in the video, described the step as a “second blow to the United States and its capitalist financial system of enslavement”, after the 9/11 attacks, according to SITE intelligence group.

In the video entitled “The Rise of the Khilafah and the Return of the Gold Dinar” released on Saturday, the IS shows the smelting of gold, silver and copper coins.

The new IS currency comes in several denominations of gold, silver and copper, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The coins are imprinted with Islamic symbols and “are completely void of human and animal images in accordance with Shariah law,” according to the narrator in the propaganda video.

The reverse side of one coin shows seven wheat stalks, “representing the blessing of spending in the path of Allah,” says the narrator.

The video, narrated in English with Arabic subtitles, begins with an extensive analysis on “the capitalist financial system of enslavement, underpinned by a piece of paper called the Federal Reserve dollar note,” and the corruption that allowed for the American destruction of the monetary system.

Last year in November, IS had announced its plans to mint its own currency in gold, silver and copper.

It had stated back then that the aim of the currency was to stay away from the “tyrant’s financial system”.

IS is considered to be one of the richest terror groups in history. Theft, oil smuggling, extortion and human trafficking are considered some of the sources of income for the extremist group that has taken over large territories in Syria and Iraq.

US officials say that IS has become a self-sustaining financial force, as the group earns more than $3 million (Rs 19.9 crore) a day.

Image: The new coins that the Islamic State has begun minting.