Catalog
5000 Rials Islamic Revolution
| Issuer | Bank Markazi Iran |
|---|---|
| Year | 1981-1983 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Second Rial (1932-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | A revolutionary procession vignette fills the face of the note, with turbaned mullahs leading a mass of marchers carrying portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini, evoking the imagery of the Islamic Revolution. Persian inscriptions identifying the issuing authority and denomination are arranged across the note, with guilloche underprint providing background security patterning. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
This note bridges an awkward institutional moment: the Islamic Republic inherited printing contracts with Thomas De La Rue that had been arranged under the Shah, and early post-revolutionary issues continued to use the same British printer while the new government worked to establish its own security printing capacity. The ideological tension of relying on a London firm for sovereign currency during a period of sharp anti-Western rhetoric was apparently subordinated to practical necessity.
The P#133 series ran from 1981 through 1983, overlapping with the Iran-Iraq War and the severe foreign exchange pressures that followed. Notes from this window were heavily circulated and are frequently encountered with significant handling wear.