Catalog
| Issuer | Imperial Bank of Persia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1924-1932 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Qiran (1825-1932) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | PAYABLE AT TEHERAN ONLY THE IMPERIAL BANK OF PERSIA 100 ONE HUNDRED TOMANS BRADBURY WILKINSON & Co. Ld. ENGRAVERS, NEW MALDEN, SURREY, ENGLAND |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | شیر و خورشید — Lion and Sun watermark |
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| Comments |
The Imperial Bank of Persia was a British-chartered institution established in 1889 under a concession granted by Nasr-ed-Din Shah, giving it the exclusive right to issue banknotes throughout Persia. That political arrangement made the bank deeply controversial from the start — Iranian nationalists viewed it, not unreasonably, as an instrument of British financial control. By the time this note was circulating in the late 1920s, the Reza Shah government was actively working to dismantle the bank's note-issuing privileges, which were finally transferred to Bank Melli Iran in 1932.
Bradbury Wilkinson produced the plates at New Malden. The 100 Toman denomination was the highest in the series, meaning circulation was narrow and attrition correspondingly low — surviving examples tend to show light use rather than the heavy wear typical of smaller denominations.