Iran AH 1281 500 dinars KM-Pn7

Stephen Album sale 43, lot 1022

This specimen was lot 1022 in Stephen Album sale 43 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2022), where it sold for $4,800. The catalog description^[1] noted, "IRAN: Nasir al-Din Shah, 1848-1896, AR 500 dinars, Tehran, AH1281, attractively toned pattern date with semi-prooflike luster, AU." This pattern was also struck in copper (KM Pn6). It was most likely made at a European mint anxious to sell equipment and dies to Iran. This specimen shows the transition to machine struck decimal coinage, which change was not accomplished until some years later. At that time, all the branch mints were closed in favor of the central mint at Tehran.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver.

Catalog reference: KM-Pn7.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• ^[1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 43, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2022.

Link to:

• AH 1281 25 dinars, bronze pattern
• AH 1281 50 dinars, bronze pattern
• AH 1281 1000 dinars, copper pattern
• AH 1281 1000 dinars, silver pattern
• AH 1281 2000 dinars, pattern struck in copper
• AH 1281 toman, Tehran mint
• AH 1281 2 toman, Mashhad mint
• AH 1293 (1876) pattern 500 dinars
• Coins and currency dated 1864