20 Rials Mohammad Rezā Pahlavī

The P#65 series was issued in the immediate aftermath of the 1953 coup that restored Mohammad Reza Shah to the Peacock Throne following Mosaddegh's overthrow. Bank Melli Iran had continued issuing notes through the political upheaval, but this series marked a consolidation of royal authority into the currency — a deliberate act of stabilization as much as monetary administration.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement in Iranian banknote production during this period was long-standing, predating the nationalization crisis. The 20 Rial denomination was a workhorse of daily commerce and saw heavy circulation wear; surviving high-grade examples are genuinely harder to locate than the larger denominations from the same series.