Fath Ali Shah's early coinage is notoriously inconsistent in weight and fineness, a direct consequence of the decentralized mint system the Qajars inherited — and never fully rationalized. Tabriz, as the seat of the crown prince governorship, operated with considerable autonomy, and its output from this period often diverges subtly from Tehran and Isfahan strikes in both alloy and die workmanship.
The Type CO designation distinguishes a specific calligraphic arrangement used in the opening years of Fath Ali's reign, before later standardization efforts reshaped the coinage under pressure from trade imbalances with Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
Fath Ali Shah's early coinage is notoriously inconsistent in weight and fineness, a direct consequence of the decentralized mint system the Qajars inherited — and never fully rationalized. Tabriz, as the seat of the crown prince governorship, operated with considerable autonomy, and its output from this period often diverges subtly from Tehran and Isfahan strikes in both alloy and die workmanship.
The Type CO designation distinguishes a specific calligraphic arrangement used in the opening years of Fath Ali's reign, before later standardization efforts reshaped the coinage under pressure from trade imbalances with Russia and the Ottoman Empire.