50 Rials - Mohammad Rezā Pahlavī 2nd. portrait

Harrison & Sons secured the contract for Iranian banknotes in the postwar period, and this 1948 issue falls within the early run of that relationship — a period when the Iranian government was navigating acute financial pressure from the nationalization debates already building around Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Bank Melli, as the sole bank of issue since 1928, was printing currency against an economy running well ahead of its hard currency reserves.

The "2nd portrait" designation in the Pick catalog distinguishes this from the earlier Mohammad Reza Shah likeness used on the immediate postwar issues — a subtle but catalogically significant difference that catches out inattentive buyers.