10 Rials - Mohammad Rezā Pahlavī

Bank Melli Iran had relied on British printing firms almost continuously since its founding in 1928, and this series is no exception. Harrison & Sons' intaglio work for Iranian issues of this period is competent but unremarkable — the firm was simultaneously handling British colonial currency across three continents, and Iran was one account among many.

Pick 47 spans a three-year window that includes the early turbulence of the oil nationalization crisis, which would peak in 1951 with Mosaddegh's takeover of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Notes from the tail end of this issue circulated during a period of acute economic pressure and public distrust of the government's financial institutions.