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1 Mohur Ashrafi - Karim Khan Zand Type B, Esfāhān mint
| Issuer | Zand Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1756 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse field is densely inscribed in flowing Nasta'liq calligraphy arranged in multiple horizontal registers within a beaded border. The legend bears the Shi'a profession of faith and the name and titles of Karim Khan Zand, executed in bold strokes characteristic of Zand-period gold coinage. Ornamental dots and diacritical marks punctuate the field, and a secondary marginal legend encircles the primary inscription. |
| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Karim Khan Zand never took the title of Shah, ruling instead as *Vakil al-Ra'aya* — regent of the people — a deliberate political choice that distinguished his administration from the Safavid and Afsharid dynasties he had displaced. His coinage reflects this: unlike the grandiose self-aggrandizement typical of Persian dynastic issues, Zand gold was struck under a ruler who maintained the fiction of Safavid legitimacy for much of his reign.
Esfāhān had served as the Safavid imperial capital, and its mint carried enormous symbolic weight. Karim Khan's decision to strike gold there was as much political signal as economic function. The Type B designation distinguishes this issue from the earlier Type A by calligraphic die differences documented in the Zand series.