10 Rials - Mohammad Rezā Pahlavī

Issued during the Allied occupation of Iran, when British and Soviet forces had deposed Reza Shah in 1941 and installed his son Mohammad Reza on the throne as a more compliant ruler. The new shah's government inherited a monetary system under considerable strain — occupation forces had requisitioned supplies and disrupted the economy severely enough that the National Bank struggled to maintain confidence in the currency.

The .600 fine silver content reflects a deliberate reduction from the .828 fineness of earlier Pahlavi-era rials, a quiet debasement made necessary by wartime silver shortages and budget pressures that would continue well into the postwar years.