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1/2 Toman - Naser al-Din Qajar
| Issuer | Iran |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881-1896 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Facing slightly left, the draped bust of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar is depicted in three-quarter view, wearing a heavily decorated military uniform adorned with orders and epaulettes. The Shah wears the distinctive tall Qajar kolah (crown) embellished with jeweled ornamental sprays at the front. His characteristic full mustache and beard are rendered in fine relief. The portrait occupies the majority of the coin's field, with no surrounding legend, reflecting the portraiture style introduced during the later Qajar period under European artistic influence. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse features a multi-line Persian nastaliq inscription enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The central legend identifies the ruler and titles. Surrounding the inner circle is an elaborate wreath composed of oak branches on the right and olive or laurel branches on the left, tied at the base, framing the inscription in a formal heraldic composition consistent with late Qajar coinage design conventions. |
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| Additional information |
Naser al-Din Shah's long reign saw Iran's coinage repeatedly reformed under pressure from European creditors and advisors. The half-toman in this period was struck at the Tehran mint, which had been substantially retooled in the 1870s following the installation of machinery imported from France. The toman itself was defined against silver krans, a relationship that grew increasingly unstable through the 1880s as silver depreciated globally and Iran's monetary system buckled under it.
KM#927 encompasses multiple die varieties across this fifteen-year window — date and mint mark configurations vary enough that attribution sometimes requires direct comparison against reference specimens.