Like B295b, but new signatures (Abdolnaser Hemmati and Farhad Dejpasand).

Courtesy of Ömer Yalçinkaya (lemberg-zp on eBay).

Tags: Iran

According to a DW article dated 31 July 2019, the Iranian government has approved a plan to remove four zeroes from the rial and rename the currency the toman, a former superunit of official currency that was in circulation until 1925. Iranians have for decades continued to use the term toman for its simple conversion rate: 1 toman = 10 rial.

Courtesy of Chris Kropinski and Tu Minh Duy.

Tags: Iran

Like B294a, but mauve in color, repositioned vignettes on front, and Mount Damavand on back.

Courtesy of Hartmut Fraunhoffer (Banknote-Online).

Tags: Iran

According to an Iran Front Page article dated 2 January 2019, the Central Bank of Iran has unveiled a new 500,000-rial note design. The new note is similar to the same denomination issued in 2014 (B294a), but orange in color, repositioned vignettes on front, and Mount Damavand on back. Most notably, the denomination is expressed as 50 in the lower right corner front/back, an indication that the CBI intends to eventually revalue the rial by removing four zeroes.




Courtesy of Tu Minh Duy.

Tags: Iran

Like B289c, but new signatures (Abdolnaser Hemmati and Masoud Karbasian)

Courtesy of Sabine Leuenberger (https://www.delcampe.net/en_GB/collectables/store/collectcurrency) and Fariborz Adib.

Tags: Iran

Like B282b, but new signature.

Courtesy of Sabine Leuenberger ().

Tags: Iran

Like B286b, but new signatures. Prefix 37/33.

Courtesy of Jean-Michel Engels.

Tags: Iran

Like B287a, but new signatures.

Courtesy of Afshin Sadri.

Tags: Iran

Like B295a, but new signatures.

Courtesy of Afshin Sadri.

Tags: Iran

In response to customer demand, 26 of the largest chapters of The Banknote Book are now available in print.

The following chapters can now be ordered in print directly from Lulu.com or Amazon:

Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Bolivia
Bulgaria
Ceylon
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Egypt
Fiji
Germany
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Italy
Japan
Lebanon
Macau
Northern Ireland
Philippines
Romania
Syria
Thailand
Turkey
Venezuela

Prices range from US$24.99 to US$39.99, depending upon length, and all are professionally printed in full color on 80-pound glossy paper as perfect-bound paperback books.

Anyone purchasing from Lulu.com is entitled to a coupon code good for a free download of the PDF version of the chapter (US$9.99 value).

Use coupon code CYBERMONDAY30 when ordering on Lulu to get 15% off the list price for orders placed before midnight 3 December 2019.

Check Lulu's home page for discount codes on books and shipping.

Tags: World, Misc, Algeria, Book, Argentina, Fiji, Romania, Cuba, Venezuela, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Belgium, Australia, Ceylon, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Macau, Northern Ireland, Philippines, Syria, Thailand, Turkey

Like B289b, but new signature (Masoud Karbasian). Prefix 26/22.

Courtesy of Sabine Leuenberger ().

Tags: Iran

Courtesy of Claudio Marana.

Tags: Iran

According to a Financial Tribune article dated 3 April 2017, Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, said the CBI has sent a bill to the government requesting the removal of a zero from the currency to reflect the public's use of the term "toman" to refer to 10 rials. Any revaluation must wait until inflation has stabilized.

Courtesy of Rok Jarc.

Tags: Iran

According to a press release dated 9 February 2017, the Central Bank of Iran plans to introduce a new 10,000-rial note in June 2017. The note is reduced in size, and features the large number 1 as registration device, perhaps in preparation for the eventual revaluation of the rial.




Courtesy of Hamid Kazemi.

Tags: Iran

According to an article on DW dated 7 December 2016, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's government proposed changing the name and denomination of the country's official currency from the rial to the toman. With 1 toman equal 10 rials, this would effectively remove a single zero from prices, making transactions slightly easier to calculate. A US dollar would currently buy 3,200 tomans at official exchange rates, and 3,900 tomans at unofficial rates.

Courtesy of Rok Jarc.

Tags: Iran

The Persia chapter of The Banknote Book is now available for individual sale and as a free download to subscribers.

This 12-page catalog covers notes issued by the Imperial Bank of Persia from 1890 to 1932. Published 22 April 2016.

Each chapter of The Banknote Book includes detailed descriptions and background information, full-color images, and accurate valuations. The Banknote Book also features:

• Sharp color images of note’s front and back without overlap
• Face value or date of demonetization if no longer legal tender
• Specific identification of all vignette elements
• Security features described in full
• Printer imprint reproduced exactly as on note
• Each date/signature variety assigned an individual letter
• Variety checkboxes for tracking your collection and want list
• Red stars highlight the many notes missing from the SCWPM
• Date reproduced exactly as on note
• Precise date of introduction noted when known
• Replacement note information
• Signature tables, often with names and terms of service
• Background information for historical and cultural context
• Details magnified to distinguish between note varieties
• Bibliographic sources listed for further research

Subscribe to The Banknote Book
If you collect the entire world or a large number of countries, buying a subscription is the best deal because it's less expensive than buying chapters individually, and it entitles you to every chapter currently available as well as everything published—or revised (click here to see the Change Log)—during the term of your subscription.


Sign up for Email Notifications
If you would like to receive email notifications whenever a new chapter of The Banknote Book is published, please join the email list.

Tags: Persia, Iran

B283i: Like B283h, but new signatures (Valiollah Seif and Ali Tayebnia). Prefix 8/44.

Courtesy of Christian Funke.

Tags: Iran

B289a3: Like B289a2, but windowed security thread with demetalized I.R. IRAN and stylized sun.

Courtesy of David Murcek (The Monetary Unit).

Tags: Iran

This note commemorates the 80th anniversary of the founding of the University of Tehran.


B290 (PNL): 50,000 rials (US$1.80)
Purple, brown, green, and orange. Front: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Back: Tree; entrance to Tehran University; double-helix strand of DNA; Capable is / the one who is wise / Knowledge makes / the old heart young / Ferdowsi; chemical symbol; planet Saturn. Holographic windowed security thread with demetalized 50000 and stylized sun. Watermark: Ruhollah Khomeini. Printer: Unknown. 166 x 79 mm.
a. No date. Signature 30. Intro: 2015.

Courtesy of Hartmut Fraunhoffer (Banknote-Online) and Hamid Kazemi.

Tags: Iran

B282b
5,000 rials, no date. Like CBI B282a, but new signatures (Valiyollah Seif and Ali Tayebnia).

Courtesy of Hartmut Fraunhoffer (www.banknoten.de).

Tags: Iran

According to an article on FARS News Agency, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the University of Tehran, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced its intention to introduce a new 50,000-rial note in the spring.

Courtesy of Hamaseh Golestaneh and Christian Funke.

Tags: Iran

B283h
10,000 rials, no date. Like B283, but new signatures (Tahmasb Mazaheri and Davoud Danesh-Jafari).

Courtesy of Sejin Ahn.

Tags: Iran

Earlier versions of the 50,000-rial note (P149) with signatures of Mahmoud Bahmani and Shamseddin Hosseini have solid Farsi text at center front (top), where as later versions have hatched Farsi text (bottom). The transition from solid to hatched takes place on notes between prefix denominators 10 and 13 (in Farsi).

Courtesy of Sejin Ahn.

Tags: Iran

The Iran chapter of The Banknote Book is now available for individual sale and as a free download to subscribers.

This 54-page catalog covers notes issued by the Banque Mellié Iran/Bank Melli Iran (National Bank of Iran) from 1932 to 1958, and the Bank Markazi Iran (Central Bank of Iran) from 1961 to present. Published 30 January 2015.

Each chapter of The Banknote Book includes detailed descriptions and background information, full-color images, and accurate valuations. The Banknote Book also features:

• Sharp color images of note’s front and back without overlap
• Face value or date of demonetization if no longer legal tender
• Specific identification of all vignette elements
• Security features described in full
• Printer imprint reproduced exactly as on note
• Each date/signature variety assigned an individual letter
• Variety checkboxes for tracking your collection and want list
• Date reproduced exactly as on note
• Precise date of introduction noted when known
• Replacement note information
• Signature tables, often with names and terms of service
• Background information for historical and cultural context
• Details magnified to distinguish between note varieties
• Bibliographic sources listed for further research

Subscribe to The Banknote Book
If you collect the entire world or a large number of countries, buying a subscription is the best deal because it's less expensive than buying chapters individually, and it entitles you to every chapter currently available as well as everything published—or revised (click here to see the Change Log)—during the term of your subscription.


Sign up for Email Notifications
If you would like to receive email notifications whenever a new chapter of The Banknote Book is published, please join the email list by clicking the button below.

Tags: Iran

According to various web sites, in December 2014 the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran introduced a new 500,000-rial cheque.


500,000 rials (US$19)
Purple, green, and yellow. Front: Imam Reza Holy Shrine entrance, dome with flag, and minaret in Mashhad; 50 and flying dove as registration devices. Back: Flying dove, Esmail Talayi fountain in the shrine’s court. 2.5-mm windowed security thread with demetalized I. R. IRAN. Solid security thread with demetalized I. R. IRAN. Watermark: Flying dove and electrotype 50. Printer: Unknown. 140 x 68 mm.
a. No date. Signature Valiollah Seif. Intro: December 2014.

Courtesy of Ms. Hamaseh Golestaneh, Christian Funke, and Hartmut Fraunhoffer (Banknote-Online).

Tags: Iran

20,000 rials, no date. Like unlisted 20,000-rial introduced in 2009, but new building (Aghazadeh Mansion wind catchers in Abarkooh) depicted on back. Signatures Ali Tayebnia and Valiyollah Seyf. Intro: 15.12.2014. Read press release in Farsi.

Courtesy of Ms. Hamaseh Golestaneh, Christian Funke, and Hartmut Fraunhoffer (http://www.banknoten.de).

Tags: Iran

1,000 rials, no date. Like P143, but new signatures (Tahmasb Mazaheri and Shamseddin Hosseini).

Courtesy of Bill Stubkjaer.

Tags: Iran

50,000 rials, no date. Like P149, but new signatures.

Courtesy of Kazem Aghapour A.

Tags: Iran

According to a Trend article dated 9 June 2013, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran will issue larger denomination banknotes "in the near future" (the end of the current Iranian calendar year = 21 March 2014) as soon as it receives permission from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.

There have been many previous reports of larger denominations coming from Iran that have not come to pass, but according to this Persian-only posting, the CBI issued a newly designed 5,000-rial note shown above in early July 2013.

Courtesy of Hamaseh Golestaneh and Christian Funke, and Hamid Kazemi.

Tags: Iran

According to an article in TehranTimes and an article in Bloomberg, both dated 3 March 2013, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran plans to issue 200,000-rial and 500,000-rial banknotes. The bank will begin printing 200,000-rial ($16) banknotes as soon as it receives permission from the Economy Ministry and will release the new notes into circulation in the Iranian new year starting 21 March, said Majid Saniei, head of Iran’s security and minting organization. The bank is also seeking approval for 500,000-rial notes and plans to introduce these within two years.

Currently the largest denomination is the 100,000-rial note (Pick 151), issued in 2010, though from 2008 to 2010 the bank has issued cheques as large as 1,000,000 rials.

Courtesy of Jay Mollindo.

Tags: Iran

According to an article in MarketWatch dated 17 October 2012, Germany's Koenig & Bauer Aktiengesellschaft (KBA) has agreed to stop supplying SPMO [Iran's Security Printing and Minting Organization] and the Central Bank of Iran with the equipment needed to produce rial banknotes, as part of international efforts to force Iran to halt its nuclear ambitions.

Tags: Iran

According to an article in the Washington Post dated 16 July 2011, the Central Bank of Iran is taking a poll to gauge the public's preferences for new names for the country’s currency, including the current rial, as well as historic names such as toman, parsi, and derik. The bank is also asking how many zeros should be removed from the currency if and when the government approves redenomination, a proposal that has been bandied about for years.

Tags: Iran

According to an article in Tehran Times dated 7 April 2011, Mahmoud Bahmani, the governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said the bank has begun studying plans to remove four zeros from the rial, and will seek approval from the Monetary and Credit Council within six months. Meanwhile, the Finance and Economy Minister, Shamseddin Hosseini, recently said the bank is planning to remove three zeros from the currency within the current calendar year which started on March 21. Currently Iran’s largest banknote is the 100,000-rial note (US$9.60), although it has also issued note-like cheques in denominations ten times that amount.

Iran has been discussing revaluing the rial for years, so it’s anyone’s guess as to whether anything will come of this latest announcement.

Tags: Iran

500 rials (US$0.05), no date. Introduced 1999. Like P137A, but signature 28 (Moshen Nourbakhsh and Hossein Namazi), and text on back reads “CENTRAL BANK OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN” instead of “ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN BANK MARKAZI IRAN.”

Courtesy of Bill Stubkjaer.

Tags: Iran

I’m working on the Iranian chapter of The Banknote Book and have come across this interesting engraving on the front of Pick 30, the 1,000-rial note of 1934. The image—described in SCWPM as “warrior killing fabulous creature”—also appears on the date stamps of subsequent issues. I suspect it depicts some Persian legend or myth. If anyone can direct me towards a full explanation, hopefully identifying the warrior and/or creature by name, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

IDENTIFIED: Darius the Great stabbing Ahriman monster from stone relief at Persepolis.

Courtesy of Raphael.

Tags: Iran

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

5,000 rials (US$0.50), no date. Like Pick 145, but new signature (Ebrahim Sheibani and Danesh Jafari). Intro: March 2010.

Courtesy of Ali Nasseri.

Tags: Iran

50,000 rials (US$5.05), no date. Like Pick 149, but new signature (Mazaheri and Hosseini). Intro: March 2010.

Courtesy of Ali Nasseri and Aminoroaaya.

Tags: Iran

1,000 rials (US$0.10), no date. Like Pick 143, but new signature (Mazaheri and Danesh Jafari). Intro: March 2010.

Courtesy of Ali Nasseri and Aminoroaaya.

Tags: Iran

1,000,000 rials (US$101.15), no date. Introduced 2010. Like million-rial cheque issued by the Central Bank of Iran in 2008, but new color scheme and signatures.

Courtesy of Ricardo Castedo.

Tags: Iran

According to a PressTV article dated 23 March 2010, “The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) will issue new 100,000-rial [US$10.11] banknotes within four months, says CBI Head Mahmoud Bahmani. ‘We have ordered 100,000-rial banknotes to be printed and people will get these notes within four months,’ said Bahmani on Monday, IRNA reported. Last week, the CBI announced that the bank plans to print 100,000-rial banknotes in the current Iranian year, which started on March 21. CBI Deputy Head Hamid Pourmohammadi says the decision was part of the bank's plan to slash three zeros off Iran's national currency. The head of Iran's Bank Tejarat, Majid-Reza Davari, said the decision was part of CBI's “monetary reform plan,” but analysts say rising inflation has led the government to issue high value banknotes, Fars News Agency reported.”

Tags: Iran

2000 rials (US$0.20), no date. Like Pick 144, but new signature.

Courtesy of banknoteshop@gmx.net.

Tags: Iran

20,000 rials (US$2).
Front like Pick 148, but with new signature combination of Bahmani and Hosseini. Back now depicts Masjid-ul Aqsa (Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem.

Courtesy of Rui Manuel Palhares, Abdullah Beydoun, and Omer Yalcinkaya.

Tags: Iran

2,000 rials (US$0.20). Like Pick 144, but new signatures.

I originally reported the signature combo as Mazaheri - Bahmani, basing my info on the signature table at Peter Symes’ excellent site, Islamicbanknotes.com. However, I have recently been contacted by Ali Nasseri who says:

The Islamicbanknotes.com has the signature of Hosseini - Bahmani that is correct, but has a mistake too!

Hosseini - Bahmani notes (2000, 5000, 20000 and 50000 Rials) put into circulation after "Danseh Jafari - Mazaheri - Sign 34" notes (2000, 20000 and 50000) and everybody has thought that they are sign 35, even me.

But, because Mr. Mazaheri was the preident of CBI, few month after Mr. Hosseini and before Mr. Bahmani, so the new 2000 Rls is printed before of all "Hosseini - Bahmani" notes (2000, 5000, 20000 and 50000 Rials), so, the new signature "Hosseini - Mazaheri" is printed former than "Hosseini - Bahmani".

I should tell frankly that the previous numeration is mistake and most rewrite according below:
Signature 34: "Danseh Jafari - Mazaheri" (As previous)
Signature 35: "Hosseini - Mazaheri" (new claim)
Signature 36: "Hosseini - Bahmani" (incorrect sign. 35)

Plus, you mentioned "Mazaheri - Bahmani" in your website. Those are both CBI's presidents. Where is the minister of finance's signature??? It is imposible that both of signatures belong to Central Bank presidents.

I corrected the signatures list and you can see them here.

Courtesy of Rui Manuel Palhares and Ali Nasseri.

Tags: Iran

On 19 July 2009, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran introduced a new 5,000-rial (US$0.50) banknote with images of Omid, Iran’s first domestically-produced research and telecommunications satellite, which was launched into space on February 3. "In order to commemorate its achievements in space sciences the government has given permission to the central bank to use pictures of the Omid satellite and its rocket launcher on both banknotes and coins," the Abrar newspaper said.

The new undated note measures 154 x 75 mm and features a portrait of Imam Khomeini on front and the Omid satellite and earth on back. The watermark is of Khomeini, with a 0.5-mm wide windowed security thread with demetalized denomination in Persian and Latin.

Courtesy of Ali Nasseri.

Tags: Iran

Like P144, but new signature.

2,000 rials (US$0.20)
Pink and dark yellow. Front: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Back: Ka’aba at the Holy Mosque in Mecca. Microprinted solid security thread. Watermark: Khomeini. 150 x 72 mm. No date. Signature: Davood Danesh Djafari and Tahmasb Mazaheri. Introduced 25.09.2008.

Courtesy of Ali Nasseri.

Tags: Iran

In August 2008, the central bank issued new cheques, which it claims are not banknotes although they are legal tender just as if they were. They were introduced to replace the array of high-denomination promissory notes which private banks had been issuing to enable their customers to carry out large transactions and which are now banned as the central bank has moved to reassert control over the money supply.


500,000 rials (US$51.90)
Dark pink and brown. Front: Main gate of Imam Reza Holy Shrine in Mashhad. Back: Calligraphic text; Islamic design of flower. 2.5-mm microprinted windowed security thread. Watermark: Hakim Aboul-ghasem Ferdowsi. 160 x 75 mm. No date (2008). Signature: CBI president, Mr. Tahmasb Mazaheri. Introduced 16.08.2008.


1,000,000 rials (US$104)
Light blue and light brown. Front: Tachar Palace-Perspolis ruins in Shiraz. Back: Calligraphic text; Islamic design of flower. 2.5-mm microprinted windowed security thread. Watermark: Hakim Aboul-ghasem Ferdowsi with electrotype denomination. 160 x 75 mm. No date (2008). Signature: CBI president, Mr. Tahmasb Mazaheri. Introduced 23.08.2008.

Courtesy of Ali Nasseri.

Tags: Iran

50,000 rials (US$5.40), ND (2007). Like the IRR50,000 reported in IBNS Journal 46.1p21, but new signatures (Mazaheri and Danesh Jafari).

Courtesy of Armen Hovsepian (www.armenstamp.com).

Tags: Iran

50,000 rials (US$5.40), ND (2007). Issued March 12, 2007. Orange and lemon. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as portrait and watermark along with electrotype denomination, 2.5 mm windowed security thread, and registration device. Map of Persian Gulf with electrons orbiting an atom, and a legend from Prophet Mohammed: “If the science exists in this constellation, men from Persia will reach it,” on back. 166 x 79 mm.

Courtesy of Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hamid Reza Ebrahimi.

Tags: Iran

On September 11, 2007, Iran’s central bank governor, Tahmasb Mazaheri, admitted that the bank is examining a proposal to knock three zeros off the rial to increase economic confidence and reduce the number of banknotes necessary to conduct cash transactions. Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, the exchange rate of the rial has gone from 70 rials to the dollar to 9,300 rials today. Iran’s largest denomination, the 50,000-rial note, was issued on March 12, 2007, and is worth approximately US$5.40.

Tags: Iran