According to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek article dated 16 June 2010, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran issued a new 100,000-rial (US$10) note on 22 June. Governor Mahmoud Bahmani said the bank will print at least 150 million of the new notes, though he promised it won’t increase the inflation rate (currently around 10 percent). The new banknotes will reduce the need for cheques (banknote-like documents available in denominations of half- and one-million rials) that Iranians buy from banks to use in large transactions. Cheques are transferred between individuals in the same way as cash, but are canceled when presented at banks for deposit.

Green. Front: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Back: Lines from Gulistan (The Rose Garden), a poem by Saadi; trees and Saadi’s tomb in Shiraz. Solid security thread with printed Arabic text and windowed security thread with demetalized 100000. Watermark: Ruhollah Khomeini and electrotype 100000. Printer: Unknown. 166 x 79 mm. No date. Signature unknown. Intro: 22.06.2010.

Courtesy of Saeed Abdullah, Abdullah Beydoun, and Armen Hovsepian.

Tags: Iran