Catalog
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| Issuer | Imperial Bank of Persia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1890-1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Toman (تومان) (50) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in brown throughout, the reverse is dominated by an elaborate guilloche framework with large numeral '5' counters in each corner. A central vignette carries the Persian Lion and Sun coat of arms enclosed within a laurel wreath, with the bank title arched above in bold serif lettering and the denomination 'FIVE TOMANS' on a ribbon banner below. The printer's imprint of Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London appears at the foot of the note. |
| Reverse lettering | THE IMPERIAL BANK OF PERSIA FIVE TOMANS BRADBURY WILKINSON & CO. ENGRAVERS LONDON |
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| Comments |
The Imperial Bank of Persia was a British-chartered institution, established under a concession granted to Baron Julius de Reuter in 1889, giving it the exclusive right to issue banknotes throughout Persia. That arrangement was deeply resented by Persian merchants and clergy from the outset, and the notes themselves became flashpoints during periods of nationalist agitation — particularly in the years surrounding the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the entire series on a long-running plate design used across the bank's note denominations for decades, which is why date ranges on these issues stretch so far. Individual notes within the P#3 series can sometimes be dated by branch office overprints or manuscript signatures of the local agent.
The bank lost its note-issuing privilege in 1930 when Bank Melli Iran was established as the state bank.