1000 Rials - Mohammad Rezā Pahlavī 2nd. portrait

Bank Melli Iran had relied on British printing firms almost continuously since its founding in 1928, and this note continues that dependence — Harrison & Sons held the contract through much of the Pahlavi era, producing notes that circulated during one of Iran's most volatile political periods. The early 1950s brought the oil nationalization crisis and the eventual 1953 coup; high-denomination notes like this 1000 Rial issue were caught in the middle of severe inflationary pressure and public distrust of the banking system.

P#53 is the second distinct portrait type for the denomination — a cataloguing distinction that matters more than it might appear, as the two types are frequently conflated in generalist collections.