Issued in the years following the Iran-Iraq War, this small brass coin entered circulation as the rial was losing purchasing power at a rate that made five of them functionally worthless for most transactions. The Central Bank continued issuing the denomination regardless, largely as a matter of institutional inertia — by the mid-1990s, a single U.S. dollar exchanged for several thousand rials on the open market.
Issued in the years following the Iran-Iraq War, this small brass coin entered circulation as the rial was losing purchasing power at a rate that made five of them functionally worthless for most transactions. The Central Bank continued issuing the denomination regardless, largely as a matter of institutional inertia — by the mid-1990s, a single U.S. dollar exchanged for several thousand rials on the open market.