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20 Tomans
| Issuer | Imperial Bank of Persia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890-1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#5 |
| Obverse description | Multicolour letterpress and intaglio print. Portrait vignette of Shah Nasr ad-Din at right, with the Lion and Sun coat of arms at left. Persian inscriptions including the bank name and denomination are arranged across the note, with a guilloche underprint and an overprint indicating the place of payment. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown-orange on a cream paper ground. The central vignette comprises the Imperial Iranian coat of arms — the Lion and Sun within a wreath — set within a horizontal oval panel framed by elaborate guilloche rosettes. Denomination numerals "20" appear in all four corners, with the bank name arched above and the value legend curved below the central vignette. |
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| Comments |
The Imperial Bank of Persia was a British-chartered institution — founded in 1889 under a concession granted by Nasir al-Din Shah — and held the exclusive right to issue banknotes in Persia for the entirety of its operating period. It was, in practice, a colonial banking instrument operating under Persian sovereign branding. The 20 Toman denomination sat at the high end of the series and would have seen limited day-to-day circulation given that most transactions in late Qajar Persia were still conducted in silver krans.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the full series across a span of decades with minimal design changes, a common economy for low-volume high-denomination issues where plate longevity mattered more than visual refresh.