Catalog
50 Tomans
| Issuer | Imperial Bank of Persia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890-1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Toman (500) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | تصویر ناصرالدین شاه قاجار پنجاه تومان بانک شاهنشاهی ایران مهر مامور دولت علیه ایران فقط در طهران ادا خواهد شد |
| Reverse description | Printed in olive-green, the reverse is dominated by an elaborate guilloche framework with four large rosette vignettes in the corners and a central oval vignette bearing the Persian Imperial coat of arms — the Lion with sword beneath a rising sun — framed by laurel branches. The denomination numeral 50 appears in each corner, with the bank title arching across the upper portion and the denomination in words along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Imperial Bank of Persia was a British-chartered institution, incorporated in 1889 under a concession granted by Naser al-Din Shah, giving it the exclusive right to issue banknotes throughout Persia. That monopoly was deeply resented by Persian merchants and nationalists almost from the start, and opposition to it became a recurring flash point during the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911.
The 50 Toman denomination was effectively outside everyday commerce — a sum representing months of wages for most Persians, which means surviving examples were almost certainly held by foreign merchants, government officials, or the bank's own branches rather than passing through ordinary hands.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the full series under contract, working from intaglio plates out of their New Malden facility.