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20 Rials - Rezā Pahlavī 3rd. portrait, French text on reverse
| Issuer | Bank Melli Iran |
|---|---|
| Year | 1937-1941 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Rials (20 IRR) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Red-orange print on plain ground. Central vignette presents a railroad bridge of the Trans-Iranian Railway on the Veresk–Dowgal section in northern Iran, rendered in detailed intaglio engraving. Denomination and bank title appear in French lettering, with further typeset text completing the reverse design. |
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| Variants | P#34a - without stamp on back P#34b - orange stamp on back with date 17/5/15 (= 15 Mordad 1317) P#34c - orange stamp on back with date SH1319 P#34d - purple stamp on back with date SH1320 |
| Comments |
Bank Melli Iran was established in 1927 to replace the British-controlled Imperial Bank of Persia as the country's note-issuing authority — a deliberate assertion of financial independence that took nearly a decade to fully execute in terms of note design and international printing contracts. De La Rue in London produced this series, which carried French text on the reverse as a concession to international commercial convention, French then functioning as the dominant language of regional trade and diplomacy across the Middle East.
The French-reverse format was dropped in subsequent issues, making this transitional series a fairly narrow window of production — roughly four years before wartime occupation reshuffled Iranian monetary administration entirely.