Iran MS2536 1/2 pahlavi
This specimen was lot 45105 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "IRAN. 1/2 Pahlavi, MS 2536 (1977). Grade: UNCIRCULATED. A boldly struck and fully lustrous coin." In 1931 the coinage was reformed and 100 dinars = one rial. This type was struck SH 1354-1358 for the shah. The pahlavi matched the British sovereign in gold content. As the pahlavi was always sold at its gold price, it had no fixed ratio to the rial. The shah was overthrown in 1979 and he died the next year. The "MS" calendar, used briefly in the late seventies, seems to have been tied to the old Persian Empire and not the shah's ancestors, who were nomad bandits.
Recorded mintage: unknown but common.
Specification: 4.07 g, 0.900 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-102; KM-1199.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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