Persian & Iranian coins — every era

Lydian Electrum Trite ("Lion Stater")

King Alyattes

c. 610–560 BCE

Earliest coins to reach Persian markets; the prototype Achaemenid coinage would later replace.

Pre-monetary Hacksilver

c. 800–600 BCE

Pre-monetary silver weighed against grain standards; recovered from Nush-i Jan and Tepe Hasanlu hoards.

Lydian Gold Stater of Croesus

King Croesus (Kroisos)

c. 561–546 BCE

Croesus, last king of Lydia, replaced the older electrum coinage with the world's first true bimetallic system in pure gold and pure silver — a model the Achaemenid daric/siglos would inherit a generation later.

Gold Daric (Type IV)

Darius I to Darius III

c. 485–330 BCE

The Greeks called them 'archers' — Agesilaus famously said he was 'driven out of Asia by 10,000 archers'.

Silver Siglos (Type IIIb)

Xerxes I – Artaxerxes II

c. 485–375 BCE

20 Sigloi = 1 Daric. Hundreds of thousands survive — the most common Achaemenid coin.

Satrapal Coin of Asia Minor

Achaemenid satrap (probably Tiribazos)

Early 4th century BCE

Among the earliest realistic portraits in Western coinage.

Double Daric

Darius III / Alexander era

c. 336–300 BCE

Continuation of Persian types under Macedonian rule for paying mercenaries.

Mazaios Satrapal Double Shekel — Babylon

Mazaios, Satrap of Babylon

c. 331–328 BCE

Struck by Mazaios, the Achaemenid satrap who surrendered Babylon to Alexander in 331 BCE and was confirmed as governor. His coinage is a hinge moment: Achaemenid satrapal iconography continued unchanged into the early Macedonian administration.

Philisto-Arabian / Samarian Obol

Local Achaemenid governors

c. 450–333 BCE

Tiny silver fractions struck by Achaemenid-appointed governors of the Levantine coast — blending Persian, Greek and Phoenician iconography. Image: closely related satrapal type.

Sidonian Double Shekel under Achaemenid Suzerainty

Abd'ashtart I / Straton I of Sidon

c. 365–352 BCE

The most explicit numismatic image of Achaemenid imperial overlordship — the Phoenician vassal king literally walks behind the Persian Great King's chariot.

Early Seleucid Tetradrachm

Antiochos I Soter (Seleucid)

281–261 BCE

Anchor symbol referenced the Seleucid dynasty's founding legend.

Antiochus III "the Great" Tetradrachm

Antiochus III

222–187 BCE

Struck in massive quantities to fund eastern campaigns.

Greco-Bactrian Tetradrachm of Diodotus I

Diodotus I (Greco-Bactrian)

c. 250 BCE

Diodotus broke from the Seleucids to found the Greco-Bactrian kingdom — Hellenistic coinage striking deep into eastern Iran.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Tetradrachm

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

175–164 BCE

The most ambitious Seleucid king after Antiochus III — his eastern campaigns took him deep into Iran where he died in 164 BCE near Tabae in Persis. His coinage is the high-water mark of Seleucid royal portraiture.

Antiochus VII Sidetes Drachm — Ecbatana

Antiochus VII Sidetes

138–129 BCE

Last Seleucid push east — Antiochus VII briefly recaptured Media from the Parthians in 130 BCE before dying in battle at Ecbatana, ending Seleucid presence on the Iranian plateau.

Greco-Bactrian Tetradrachm of Euthydemus I

Euthydemus I

c. 230–200 BCE

Withstood a three-year siege by Antiochus III at Bactra. His coinage is the high-water mark of Greco-Bactrian portrait engraving. Image: related Diodotid Bactrian tetradrachm.

Mithradates I Tetradrachm

Mithradates I

171–138 BCE

First king to title himself 'Great King'.

Mithradates II Drachm

Mithradates II

121–91 BCE

Coinage shifts from Greek to Iranian royal imagery.

Orodes I Silver Tetradrachm

Orodes I

90–77 BCE

Orodes I ruled in a turbulent period of Arsacid civil war. His successor Orodes II would later defeat Crassus at Carrhae (53 BCE).

Vologases VI Drachm

Vologases VI

208–228 CE

Vologases VI was the last Arsacid king; he was overthrown by Ardashir I, who founded the Sasanian Empire.

Phraates IV Silver Tetradrachm

Phraates IV

37–2 BCE

Phraates IV defeated Mark Antony's Parthian expedition (36 BCE) and later received the four Roman legionary standards lost at Carrhae back from Augustus (20 BCE) — a diplomatic coup commemorated on Roman coinage. His Seleucia tetradrachms are precisely dated month-by-month.

Vologases I Tetradrachm

Vologases I

51–78 CE

Vologases I founded a new dynastic branch and is credited by Pahlavi tradition with the first systematic collection of the Avesta. His reign coincided with Rome's wars over Armenia and the Treaty of Rhandeia (63 CE).

Artabanus IV Drachm

Artabanus IV (last Arsacid)

c. 213–224 CE

Killed by Ardashir I at the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224 CE — the end of the Arsacid dynasty after nearly five centuries and the dawn of the Sasanian empire.

Kingdom of Persis – Drachm of 'Darius'

Darius II of Persis (Darayan)

1st century BCE – 1st century CE

The semi-autonomous Frataraka and later kings of Persis ruled the Achaemenid homeland under Seleucid then Parthian overlordship. Their coins preserve Persian religious iconography (fire altar, royal figure) that the Sasanians would revive and standardise.

Elymais Tetradrachm of Kamnaskires V

Kamnaskires V of Elymais

c. 54–32 BCE

The Kingdom of Elymais — successor to ancient Elam in lowland Khuzestan — minted vassal coinage under Parthian overlordship. Their stylised portraits are some of the most distinctive of the period.

Persis Frataraka Tetradrachm

Vahbarz / Vadfradad (Frataraka)

c. 220–140 BCE

The Frataraka ('Foremost') were local princes of Persis (modern Fars) who minted in a deliberate revival of Achaemenid iconography — the ideological seed-bed of the later Sasanian dynasty. Image: related Persis silver of Darius II of Persis.

Characene Tetradrachm — Spasinou Charax

Attambelos I of Characene

1st century BCE – 1st century CE

The Kingdom of Characene at the head of the Persian Gulf was a Parthian vassal controlling Indian Ocean trade. Its coins debased steadily as silver gave way to lead-bronze. Image: related Elymaean billon tetradrachm.

Ardashir I Drachm

Ardashir I (founder)

224–242 CE

Founder of the dynasty after defeating Artabanus IV.

Shapur I Drachm

Shapur I

240–272 CE

Defeated three Roman emperors including Valerian (captured 260 CE).

Khosrow I (Anushirvan) Drachm

Khosrow I

531–579 CE

Currency reformer; standardised drachm weight and purity. Massive output.

Khosrow II Drachm

Khosrow II

590–628 CE

Most common Sasanian coin; struck in huge quantities through 38-year reign.

Bahram V Gold Dinar

Bahram V (Bahram Gur)

420–438 CE

Hero of Persian epic — celebrated in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and Nezami's 'Haft Peykar'. Gold dinars are rare; eastern mints (Sind) supplied trade with India.

Peroz I Drachm

Peroz I

459–484 CE

Peroz's wars against the Hephthalites bankrupted the empire and he was killed in battle in 484. From his reign onward, mint and year on Sasanian drachms enable precise dating.

Kavad I Drachm

Kavad I

488–531 CE (two reigns)

Kavad's reforms paved the way for Khosrow I. His support for the radical Mazdakite movement marks one of the most dramatic episodes in late antique Iran.

Yazdegerd III Drachm

Yazdegerd III (last Sasanian)

632–651 CE

Killed at Merv. His coins continued posthumously into the Arab-Sasanian series.

Shapur I Gold Dinar

Shapur I

c. 260–272 CE

Sasanian gold dinars were comparatively rare, used for diplomatic gifts and high-value trade with Rome and India. Shapur I's gold issues celebrate his triumphs over three Roman emperors — most famously the capture of Valerian in 260 CE.

Bahram II Drachm

Bahram II

276–293 CE

Bahram II's coins are exceptional in Sasanian numismatics for showing the royal family together — a propaganda response to the religious challenge of Manichaeism, brutally suppressed under his predecessor Bahram I.

Shapur III Gold Dinar

Shapur III

383–388 CE

Shapur III concluded the long partition of Armenia with Rome (387 CE), dividing it into Persian and Roman spheres. His gold issues are far rarer than the silver and were probably commemorative or diplomatic.

Bahram Chobin (Bahram VI) Drachm

Bahram Chobin (usurper)

590–591 CE

A Sasanian general from the Mihran clan who briefly seized the throne from Khosrow II — the only non-Sasanian to rule Iran between Ardashir I and the Arab conquest. Khosrow II recovered the throne with Byzantine help; Bahram Chobin's coins were struck for barely a year.

Arab-Sasanian Drachm

Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad

673–683 CE

Transitional issue — Sasanian iconography continued for 50 years after the conquest.

Umayyad Gold Dinar

Abd al-Malik (post-reform)

77 AH / 696 CE

First purely epigraphic Islamic coin — a revolution in monetary art.

Samanid Gold Dinar (Nishapur)

Abd al-Malik I (Samanid)

955–956 CE

Samanid silver dirhams flooded Viking-age trade; vast hoards found from Russia to Sweden.

Ghaznavid Gold Dinar

Mas'ud III (Ghaznavid)

1099–1115 CE

Ghaznavid Indian campaigns funded vast gold issues from Mahmud onward.

Great Seljuq Gold Dinar

Malik-Shah I

1072–1092 CE

Issued across a vast empire from Anatolia to Transoxiana.

Ilkhanid-era Silver Dirham

Citing Ghazan Khan as overlord

1296–1304 CE

Reformed coinage after Ghazan's conversion; bilingual issues.

Tahirid Silver Dirham

Tahir ibn Husayn

821–822 CE (AH 206)

Tahir founded the first quasi-independent Iranian Islamic dynasty in Khorasan (821–873), nominally loyal to the Abbasid caliph.

Saffarid Silver Dirham

Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar

861–879 CE

The 'Coppersmith' rose from a militia leader in Sistan to ruling Iran from Fars to Khorasan — founder of the Saffarid dynasty and a hero of Iranian self-rule against the Abbasids.

Buyid Silver Dirham

'Adud al-Dawla (Buyid)

AH 372 (982–983 CE)

The Buyids (934–1062) controlled the caliph in Baghdad while openly using Persian royal titulature on their coinage — a deliberate Iranian revival.

Ilkhanid Gold Dinar of Arghun

Arghun Khan (Ilkhanid)

AH 684 / 1285–1286 CE

Bilingual Arabic-Uighur issue from the Mongol Ilkhanate of Iran, before Ghazan's conversion to Islam.

Abbasid Gold Dinar of Harun al-Rashid

Caliph Harun al-Rashid

AH 184 / 800 CE

Struck at the height of the Abbasid Caliphate's prestige under the patron of the 'Thousand and One Nights' court. Abbasid gold dinars circulated as the dominant trade coin from al-Andalus to Sogdia, and the standard was rigorously maintained for over two centuries.

Tabaristan Hemidrachm (Abbasid Era)

Issued under Caliph al-Mahdi

AH 158–169 / 775–785 CE

Long after the Arab conquest the Caspian province of Tabaristan retained semi-autonomous local dynasties (Dabuyids, then Abbasid governors) who continued striking Sasanian-style half-drachms with Pahlavi script — among the latest survivals of pre-Islamic Iranian coinage, well into the late 8th century.

Ghurid Gold Dinar of Mu'izz al-Din

Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad of Ghor

AH 599–602 / 1202–1206 CE

Mu'izz al-Din (also Muhammad of Ghor) extended Ghurid rule from Afghanistan into northern India, founding the Delhi Sultanate's precursor state. His coinage circulated from Herat to the Gangetic plain.

Khwarazmshah Gold Dinar of Muhammad II

'Ala' al-Din Muhammad II

1200–1220 CE

Muhammad II ruled one of the largest empires of the Islamic Middle Ages — from the Caspian to the Indus — but his execution of Mongol envoys provoked Genghis Khan's catastrophic invasion of 1219–1221, ending the Khwarazmian state and beginning the Mongol era in Iran.

Qarakhanid Multiple Dirham — Samarqand

Qadir Khan Yusuf

AH 415–425 / 1024–1034 CE

First major Turkic Islamic dynasty east of the Oxus. Their billon dirhams reflect the chronic silver shortage ('silver famine') that plagued the eastern Islamic world from the late 10th century. Image: related Ghaznavid gold dinar.

Great Mongol Dirham — Bukhara

Möngke Khan (in name of Great Khan)

AH 651–658 / 1253–1260 CE

Pre-Ilkhanate Mongol coinage of Iran and Transoxiana, struck before Hulagu's conversion of his line to a Persian-style sultanate. Image: related Ilkhanid dirham.

Timur Silver Tanka

Timur (Tamerlane)

AH 795 / 1393 CE

Struck in Timur's name while nominally honouring the Chagatai khan — the silver tanka standard he established was inherited by his successors and later the Safavids.

Ulugh Beg Silver Tanka

Ulugh Beg

AH 850–853 / 1447–1449 CE

Ulugh Beg — astronomer-king and grandson of Timur — issued tankas continuing the high silver standard of his father Shah Rukh's shahrukhi.

Safavid 20 Shahi (Isfahan, 1690)

Shah Suleiman I

AH 1101 / 1690 CE

Heavy ceremonial multiple of the shahi denomination, struck at the Safavid capital. Continues the Shia-doctrinal coinage type first standardised by Shah Ismail I in 1501.

Safavid Silver Abbasi

Shah Suleiman I (Safavid)

1666–1694 CE

The denomination 'abbasi' was named after Shah Abbas I (1588–1629) and remained the standard Safavid silver trade coin across the Persian Gulf for over a century.

Coin of Shah Sultan Husayn

Sultan Husayn

1694–1722 CE

Last great Safavid issues before the Afghan siege of Isfahan (1722).

Aq Qoyunlu Gold Coin

Baysunghur (Aq Qoyunlu)

1490–1493 CE

The Aq Qoyunlu ('White Sheep' Turkmen) ruled western Iran from Tabriz before being overthrown by Shah Ismail I and the Safavids in 1501.

Shah Ismail I Silver Shahi — Tabriz

Shah Ismail I (founder)

1501–1524 CE

First coinage of the Safavid empire from its founding capital. Shah Ismail's elevation of Twelver Shi'ism to state religion in 1501 was an act of historic religious transformation, and his coins are its first physical declaration.

Shah Tahmasp I — Imam Reza Mint, Mashhad

Shah Tahmasp I

1524–1576 CE

Tahmasp's 52-year reign stabilised the dynasty after his father's defeat at Chaldiran (1514). His Mashhad coinage, struck at the Shrine of Imam Reza, was a powerful Shia statement directed at the Sunni Ottoman and Uzbek neighbours.

Shah Abbas I 'the Great' — Mashhad

Shah Abbas I

1588–1629 CE

Shah Abbas built modern Iran — a centralised administration, the relocated capital at Isfahan, and a silk monopoly that drew European trading companies. The 'abbasi' silver coin (~7.7 g) bearing his name became the gold standard of Indian Ocean trade for two centuries.

Qara Qoyunlu Silver Tanka — Tabriz

Jahan Shah

AH 841–872 / 1438–1467 CE

The Qara Qoyunlu ('Black Sheep') Turkmen briefly ruled western Iran and Iraq, and were displaced by the Aq Qoyunlu in 1467. Jahan Shah is famous as builder of the Blue Mosque of Tabriz. Image: related Aq Qoyunlu Tabriz gold.

Nader Shah Silver Double Rupee

Nader Shah Afshar

1738–9 CE (AH 1151)

Bilingual issues struck after the conquest of Delhi in 1739.

Nader Shah Silver Rupee — Isfahan

Nader Shah Afshar

AH 1148–1160 / 1736–1747 CE

Struck at the former Safavid capital after Nader took the throne in 1736. Heavy issues from melted Mughal treasure circulated alongside his Indian-mint rupees.

Zand Gold Quarter Mohur

Karim Khan Zand

1751–1779 CE

Among the most beautifully calligraphed Persian coins.

Fath-Ali Shah Gold Toman

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar

1797–1834 CE

Heavy gold toman — first figural Iranian coin types in 1100 years on related issues.

Fath-Ali Shah Silver — Ganja Mint

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar

Early 19th century

Struck at the Ganja mint in the contested Caucasus frontier — the city was ceded to the Russian Empire under the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan, ending Qajar minting there. 1 toman = 10 qiran = 1000 dinars.

Qajar 10 Toman Gold (AH 1314)

Muzaffar al-Din Shah era

c. 1896 CE

Among the largest Qajar gold denominations. Muzaffar al-Din signed the Constitution in 1906.

Mohammad Ali Shah Gold Toman

Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar

1907–1909 CE

Mohammad Ali Shah's brief reign was dominated by his attempt to abolish the Constitution; he was deposed in 1909 and went into Russian exile.

Ahmad Shah Qajar — Tehran Mint

Ahmad Shah Qajar

1909–1925 CE

Last Qajar ruler — crowned aged 11, deposed by Reza Khan in 1925. His machine-struck Tehran-mint coinage carries solar Hijri (SH) dates.

Imperial Bank of Persia — One Toman (1906)

Muzaffar al-Din Shah era

1906

Iran's first true paper currency: the British-chartered Imperial Bank issued notes from 1890 with each branch (Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, Bushehr, Yazd, Mashhad, Resht, Shiraz, Kermanshah) issuing non-fungible notes payable only at its own counter.

Naser al-Din Shah 1 Toman Banknote (specimen)

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

c. 1890

The smallest denomination of the earliest Iranian banknote series.

Naser al-Din Shah 10 Toman Banknote

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

c. 1890–1923

Mid-range Imperial Bank note; a Tehran-payable 10 toman would not be accepted in Tabriz.

Naser al-Din Shah 25 Toman Banknote (specimen)

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

c. 1890

High-denomination Imperial Bank note — equivalent to a modest annual salary at issue.

Imperial Bank One Toman — Yazd branch overprint

Naser al-Din / late Qajar

c. 1890–1923

A surviving example illustrating the branch-bound nature of early Iranian paper money.

Mozaffar al-Din Shah — Tehran Mint

Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar

1896–1907 CE

Mozaffar al-Din Shah signed the 1906 Constitution that established Iran's first parliament (Majles), making him the last absolute Qajar monarch. His machine-struck Tehran coinage in qirans and tomans set the standard for late-Qajar circulation.

Fath-Ali Shah Silver — Isfahan Mint

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar

1797–1834 CE

Isfahan remained one of the principal Qajar mints, continuing the Safavid tradition. Silver issues here carried the heaviest provincial production for the central Iranian plateau.

Fath-Ali Shah Nowruz Treasure Coin — Tabriz

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar

AH 1226 / 1811–12 CE

Special presentation issue ('sekke-ye sahib-qiran') struck for the Nowruz New Year celebrations at the Tabriz mint — distributed at court as ceremonial largesse rather than circulating currency.

Naser al-Din Shah Silver Qiran — Tehran

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

1848–1896 CE

The qiran (1/10 toman) was the workhorse silver coin of Naser al-Din's 48-year reign — the longest of any Qajar shah and the longest of any Iranian monarch until the late 20th century.

Naser al-Din Shah Gold Toman — Tehran

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

1848–1896 CE

Standard one-toman gold piece from the Tehran mint after the 1877 mechanisation. Naser al-Din Shah's three European tours (1873, 1878, 1889) brought back the milling technology and bank-charter ideas that transformed Iranian money.

Naser al-Din Shah 10 Toman Gold

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

Late 19th century

Heavy ceremonial gold piece — among the largest circulating Iranian gold coins of the 19th century. Rare in collectors' hands; struck primarily for royal gifts and bullion reserve.

Naser al-Din Shah Qiran — Herat Mint

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

c. 1856 CE

Issued during the brief Iranian occupation of Herat (1856), which triggered the Anglo-Persian War — by the Treaty of Paris (1857) Iran formally renounced all claims to Herat, ending centuries of Persian sovereignty over the city.

Naser al-Din Shah 50 Dinar Copper

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

1848–1896 CE

Low-denomination copper coin (1/2 shahi = 50 dinar) for everyday market transactions. The 1877 mechanisation finally drove out the old hand-struck 'falus' coppers that had varied wildly between local mints.

Mozaffar al-Din Shah 2 Toman Gold

Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar

AH 1313–1324 / 1896–1907 CE

Mozaffar al-Din was the shah who signed the 1906 Constitution five days before his death — the first constitutional monarchy in the Islamic world. His machine-struck gold is well-engraved and relatively common. Image: related Naser al-Din Tehran gold.

Imperial Bank of Persia 5 Toman Banknote

Ahmad Shah Qajar era

c. 1924

Imperial Bank notes were issued payable at specific branches (Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, Yazd, Mashhad, Shiraz, Bushehr) — a note payable at one branch could not be cashed at another without exchange. The branch-restriction made counterfeiting harder but limited use. Image: related Imperial Bank Yazd-payable Tuman.

Reza Shah Gold Pahlavi

Reza Shah Pahlavi

SH 1305–1320 (1926–1941)

Successor bullion coin to the toman. Still traded today as Iran's gold investment standard.

Mohammad Reza Shah 10 Pahlavi Gold

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1355 / 1976

Minted in 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2½, 5 and 10 pahlavi denominations.

2500-Year Celebration Commemorative Medal

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1350 / 1971

Issued for Persepolis ceremonies celebrating 2500 years of Persian monarchy.

Pahlavi 20 Rial Commemorative

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1357 / 1978

Late-Pahlavi commemorative — part of the broader commemorative-coin output that includes the FAO 'Money Coin' series.

Bank Melli 100 Rial (Reza Shah)

Reza Shah

SH 1317 / 1938

First series of Bank Melli notes featuring the new shah.

Bank Markazi 1000 Rial (Mohammad Reza Shah)

Mohammad Reza Shah

1969–1971

Workhorse high-denomination note from the late 1960s oil-boom era, issued by the newly-founded Central Bank of Iran (Bank Markazi).

Reza Shah 500 Rial Banknote

Reza Shah Pahlavi

SH 1317 / 1938

High denomination of the first Bank Melli series under Reza Shah — equivalent to a substantial sum in the 1930s.

Reza Shah 1000 Rial Banknote (first series)

Reza Shah Pahlavi

SH 1317 / 1938

Highest denomination of the Reza Shah series; rare in collectible grade.

Mohammad Reza Shah 500 Rial Banknote (1976)

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 2535 / 1976

From the late-Pahlavi 'imperial calendar' (Shahanshahi) series — controversially replaced the Islamic calendar in 1976.

Mohammad Reza Shah 5000 Rial Banknote (1977)

Mohammad Reza Shah

1977

Mid-high denomination of the final Bank Markazi Pahlavi series before the 1979 revolution.

Mohammad Reza Shah 10,000 Rial Banknote (1978)

Mohammad Reza Shah

1978

Highest denomination of the final Pahlavi series — printed on the eve of the 1979 revolution; many were later overprinted with arabesques to cover the Shah's portrait.

Pahlavi 50th Anniversary 100 Rial Banknote

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 2535 / 1976

Special commemorative note for the half-centennial of the dynasty founded by Reza Shah in 1925.

Reza Shah Gold Toman — Tehran (early)

Reza Shah Pahlavi

SH 1305–1309 (1926–1930)

Early Pahlavi gold toman issued before the 1932 currency reform that replaced toman/qiran with the rial. These first issues retained the Qajar-era denomination system briefly.

Reza Shah First Nowruz Commemorative

Reza Shah Pahlavi

SH 1305 / 1926

Struck for the first Nowruz of the new Pahlavi era — Reza Shah was crowned on 25 April 1926 and the spring equinox that followed was celebrated as the dynastic refoundation of Iran.

Reza Shah Silver 5 Rial (1938)

Reza Shah Pahlavi

SH 1317 / 1938

Reza Shah's portrait silver — the first Iranian circulating coin since pre-Islamic Sasanian times to depict a living ruler's face. Issued in 1, 2 and 5 rial denominations from 1932 to 1942.

Mohammad Reza Shah 5 Pahlavi Gold

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1339–1357 (1960–1979)

Heavy bullion gold piece, half-ounce class — issued primarily as an investment instrument by Bank Markazi alongside the 1, 2½ and 10 Pahlavi denominations.

Mohammad Reza Shah 1 Rial Coin

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1338–1357 (1959–1979)

Workhorse small-change coin of the late Pahlavi era — minted in hundreds of millions and still found in circulation drawers across Iran today.

Mohammad Reza Shah 2 Rial Coin

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1338–1357 (1959–1979)

Mid-range minor denomination of the modernised Pahlavi coinage struck by Bank Markazi from the late 1950s onward.

Mohammad Reza Shah 5 Rial Coin

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1338–1357 (1959–1979)

Highest-denomination cupronickel circulation coin of the era — the largest pocket coin most Iranians handled before the 1979 revolution.

Mohammad Reza Shah 10,000 Rial (1971)

Mohammad Reza Shah

1971

The highest denomination of the early-1970s oil-boom series, issued in the year of the spectacular 2,500-year monarchy celebrations at Persepolis.

Mohammad Reza Shah 50 Rial Banknote

Mohammad Reza Shah

1970s

Mid-low denomination of the Bank Markazi series — the everyday note for taxi fares and market purchases throughout the 1970s.

50 Rial '2,500-Year Empire' Commemorative Banknote

Mohammad Reza Shah

SH 1350 / 1971

Issued for the October 1971 Persepolis ceremonies marking 2,500 years since Cyrus the Great founded the Persian Empire — one of the most lavish state events of the 20th century.

Mohammad Reza Shah 1000 Rial — Second Series

Mohammad Reza Shah

Mid-1970s

Workhorse high-denomination note of the oil-boom decade — printed by De La Rue (London) and Thomas De La Rue's Tehran-licensed press.

Republic-era 20 Rial Coin

1980s

Representative of early-Republic circulation coinage.

Overprinted Pahlavi 5000 Rial — Khomeini Arabesque

Transitional issue, Islamic Republic

1979–1981

Following the 1979 revolution, existing stocks of high-denomination Pahlavi notes were over-printed to remove the Shah's image while replacement notes were designed.

Islamic Republic 100 Rial — Khomeini Series

1985 onwards

The 100 rial note became the workhorse low denomination of the post-revolutionary era; later supplanted by the coin.

Islamic Republic 2000 Rial (1982)

1981–1982

Second IR series, with revolutionary imagery replacing royal portraits.

Islamic Republic 5000 Rial (1981)

1981

Second-series IR high denomination; replaced the over-printed Pahlavi notes.

Islamic Republic 10000 Rial (1981)

1981

Highest denomination of the second IR series, issued before the 1992 Khomeini-portrait redesign.

Islamic Republic 10,000 Rial — Khomeini / Damavand

1992 – present

Workhorse banknote of the modern era, reissued repeatedly with security upgrades.

Islamic Republic 100 Rial Banknote

1985 (SH 1364)

Early Republican-era note before the universal switch to the Khomeini portrait in 1992; Mudarres was chosen as a Shia-clerical symbol of constitutionalist opposition.

Islamic Republic 50,000 Rial = 5,000 Toman Note (Redenomination Series)

2021 – present

Phase-one of the planned 1:10,000 redenomination — banknotes carry both 'rial' (legal) and 'toman' (popular) values during transition. Full redenomination implementation was repeatedly delayed.