Catalog
20 Tomans Muzaffar al-Din Shah
| Issuer | Imperial Bank of Persia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1924-1932 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | فقط در ( نام شهر) ادا خواهد شد تصویر ناصرالدین شاه قاجار بیست تومان تومان 20 بانک شاهنشاهی ایران مهر مامور دولت علیه ایران (Translation: Payable only at (city name) Imperial Bank of Iran Twenty tomans) |
| Reverse description | Red and brown on fine guilloche underprint. A central oval vignette presents the Persian Imperial coat of arms — a lion passant holding a sword before a rising sun, enclosed within a wreath of oak and laurel branches surmounted by a crown. The bank title arches above the vignette, the denomination panel below reads "TWENTY TOMANS", large numeral "20" medallions occupy each corner, and a blank circular panel at right was reserved for a city overprint stamp. |
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The Imperial Bank of Persia was a British-chartered institution — established under a concession granted to Baron Julius de Reuter in 1889 — that functioned as Persia's state bank and sole note-issuing authority until Reza Shah established Bank Melli Iran in 1928. That transition didn't immediately end this series; notes continued to be dated into 1932 as the Imperial Bank wound down its circulation role over several years of awkward coexistence with the new national bank.
Muzaffar al-Din Shah died in 1907, nearly two decades before this print run began. His name on notes issued well into the Pahlavi period reflects the Imperial Bank's reluctance — or inability — to retool plates quickly as Persian political authority changed hands beneath it. Bradbury, Wilkinson produced the sheets in Surrey throughout.