100 Rials = 1 Pahlevi

Bank Melli Iran was established in 1928 as part of Reza Shah's broader program to dismantle the British-controlled Imperial Bank of Persia's note-issuing monopoly. This note belongs to the earliest years of that transition — Iran had only formally taken full control of currency issuance a few years prior, and De La Rue's London contract was a practical concession to the reality that Iran lacked domestic printing infrastructure capable of producing secure banknotes.

The dual denomination — Rials and Pahlevis — reflects the monetary reform of 1932, which replaced the Qran with the Rial at a rate of 1 Rial per 10 Qrans. The Pahlevi unit, equal to 100 Rials, was named directly for the ruling dynasty and used primarily as an accounting denomination rather than a distinct coin or note series in its own right.