Iran MS2537 pahlavi
This specimen was lot 75185 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2024), where it sold for $576. The catalog description[1] noted, "IRAN. Pahlavi, MS 2537 (1978). Tehran Mint. Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. PCGS MS-65. Lustrous honey-gold surfaces with extremely few distracting marks. Very attractive." 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 not rare.
Specification: 8.13 g, 0.900 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-101; KM-1200.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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