Iran SH1323 1/2 pahlavi
This specimen was lot 75186 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2024), where it sold for $408. The catalog description[1] noted, "IRAN. 1/2 Pahlavi, SH 1323 (1944). Tehran Mint. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. NGC MS-62. This example offers honey-gold surfaces with softly rendered details as struck." When Reza Shah seized the throne in 1925, he adopted the solar Hegira calendar, which used the Gregorian calendar but deducted 621 years. Thus, SH 1322 = 1943 AD. In 1931 the system was reformed and 100 dinars = one rial. This type was struck SH 1320-1323 for the young shah, Reza Shah having been forced into exile for being too cozy with the Nazis. 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.
Recorded mintage: 76,000.
Specification: 4.07 g, 0.900 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-98; KM-1147.
- 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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