Catalog
3 Tomans
| Issuer | Imperial Bank of Persia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890-1923 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Multicolour note with an intricate floral and geometric border in red and green tones. At centre, the Persian denomination سه تومان appears in large Nastaliq script, flanked by an oval vignette of the Lion and Sun arms of Persia at left and a portrait vignette of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah in royal regalia at right. The date 10TH APRIL 1900 is printed above the central inscription, with an oval Persian seal and two manuscript signatures below; the bank name بانک شاهنشاهی ایران runs along the top in Arabic script. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | بانک شاهنشاهی ایران سه تومان 10TH APRIL 1900 |
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| Comments |
The Imperial Bank of Persia was chartered in 1889 under a concession granted by Naser al-Din Shah to Baron Julius de Reuter — the same Reuters of news agency fame, who had previously failed at a far more sweeping economic concession covering Iranian railways and mines. The bank held the exclusive right to issue banknotes throughout Persia, a privilege that generated resentment from Iranian merchants and nationalist politicians almost from the start.
Bradbury, Wilkinson produced the plates with their characteristic fine-line engraving, and the notes were shipped to Persia for signing and issue. The 3-Toman denomination is an odd one — most series avoid units divisible only awkwardly into standard commercial transactions — and surviving examples from the early years of this thirty-plus-year print run are substantially rarer than the higher denominations.