Persian Treasury
Metal

Gold coinage of Persia and Iran

Gold issues — darics, dinars, ashrafis and pahlavis — the high-value backbone of Iranian coinage. 26 catalogued examples spanning Pre-Achaemenid & Median, Achaemenid Empire, Sasanian Empire.

Catalogued
26
Eras
8
Metals
1
Denominations
6

Pre-Achaemenid & Median · c. 1000 – 550 BCE

Era overview →

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.

Achaemenid Empire · 550 – 330 BCE

Era overview →

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'.

Double Daric

Darius III / Alexander era

c. 336–300 BCE

Continuation of Persian types under Macedonian rule for paying mercenaries.

Sasanian Empire · 224 – 651 CE

Era overview →

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.

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.

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.

Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic · 651 – 1258 CE

Era overview →

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 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.

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.

Timurid & Safavid · 1370 – 1736 CE

Era overview →

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.

Afsharid & Zand · 1736 – 1796 CE

Era overview →

Zand Gold Quarter Mohur

Karim Khan Zand

1751–1779 CE

Among the most beautifully calligraphed Persian coins.

Qajar Dynasty · 1789 – 1925 CE

Era overview →

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pahlavi Dynasty · 1925 – 1979 CE

Era overview →

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.

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.

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.

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