Thomas De La Rue's continued involvement with Bank Markazi after the 1979 revolution is one of the more quietly remarkable arrangements in modern banknote history — the Islamic Republic, despite its hostility toward Western economic institutions, kept its printing contract with a London firm for decades. This note ran through at least seven signature combinations across its production life, reflecting the considerable ministerial turnover Iran experienced through the 1990s and early 2000s as economic policy swung between reformist and conservative factions.
The sheer number of governor and minister pairings on P#143 makes date-matched signature attribution more useful to collectors than face value alone.
Thomas De La Rue's continued involvement with Bank Markazi after the 1979 revolution is one of the more quietly remarkable arrangements in modern banknote history — the Islamic Republic, despite its hostility toward Western economic institutions, kept its printing contract with a London firm for decades. This note ran through at least seven signature combinations across its production life, reflecting the considerable ministerial turnover Iran experienced through the 1990s and early 2000s as economic policy swung between reformist and conservative factions.
The sheer number of governor and minister pairings on P#143 makes date-matched signature attribution more useful to collectors than face value alone.