The American Numismatic Society has announced a new book on the banknotes of Imperial Persia. -Editor
The Banknotes of Imperial Persia: An Analysis of a Complex System with Catalogue (Numismatic Studies Volume 30)
by Michael E. Bonine
edited by Jere L. Bacharach
List price: US$100
ISSN 0517-404-x
ISBN 978-0-89722-337-9
Hardcover, 148 pages, color images throughout, color plates
The Imperial Bank of Persia, established in 1889, was the first bank to issue banknotes and attempt to establish a modern banking system
in Iran. Since it was established as the first State Bank of Iran but was also a British bank, many tensions developed between the bank and
the Iranian government. Constant rivalry between the British and the Russians for influence and control of Iran influenced how and where
the branch banks were established and operated.
The banknotes of the Imperial Bank of Persia are some of the most beautiful and largest notes ever issued for any nation, yet the story
of these notes is complex. There are very few remaining specimens, especially of the earliest notes and those of higher denominations. An
elaborate system of branch banks evolved, and the banknotes were printed or stamped as payable only for the issuing branch.
With the emergence of Reza Shah and the Pahlavi dynasty in the mid-1920s, the desire of Iranians to control their own national bank and
curtail the influence of the British led to establishment of the Bank Melli Iran (National Bank of Iran). By 1932 the right of the Imperial
Bank of Persia to issue banknotes had been withdrawn.
Few researchers have examined the subject in detail, and general references often have inaccurate information. The following study by
Michael Bonine attempts to fill in some of the gaps and includes an analysis of several hundred lower-denomination banknotes.
Michael E. Bonine (1942–2011) was an active member of the University of Arizona’s Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Geography, and
founding director of Arizona’s School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies. He published extensively on the human and physical
geography of the Middle East. He also turned his hobby of collecting into a scholarly activity as he systematically acquired banknotes of
the Imperial Bank of Persia. Extensive research, particularly in London, and painstaking studies of the eighteen denominations printed for
the twenty-eight bank branches resulted in this monograph on the Imperial Bank of Persia banknotes.
Retail price: $100.00 ANS Members Price $70.00
expected to ship in February 2016
For more information, or to order, see:
The Banknotes of Imperial Persia: An Analysis of a Complex System with
Catalogue (http://numismatics.org/Store/Persianbanknotes)
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
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at this address: whomren@gmail.com
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