A Look at the Different Specimen Types of Iranian Paper Money

While looking through our Mid-Year 2025 World Paper Money Auction, I came across a fairly substantial group of specimens printed for Iran, dating from the 1930s to 1980s. The notes, printed by Thomas de la Rue in England, are scarce and popular in specimen format. What makes this group particularly interesting, however, is the fact that many of the different specimen types produced by the printer are different varieties. While paper money catalogs, such as the Pick catalog and the Banknote Book, often differentiate specimen varieties, in our experience, relatively few collectors will attempt to this in their collection, being satisfied with a single specimen for any given type. As this blog will show, however, advanced collectors might wish to pursue the different types, as they are sometimes very different in appearance.

Before we look at a few varieties offered in the sale it is worth mentioning that often it is difficult to determine the actual purpose of specific specimens, and the line is sometimes blurred. Typically (and this will probably be the topic of a future blog post), specimens can be distinguished into the following subcategories:

Pre-production specimens: Often with design differences compared to issued notes. Many of these are listed as printer’s designs or proofs.
Approval specimens: The final specimens approved by the bank. These often contain annotations indicating final approval by a representative of the bank or printer and typically come from the printer’s archive.
Printer’s archival specimens: Specimens retained by the printer. These often contain details about the specific print run (such as a serial number range or date) and are often unique or nearly so, as typically only a few pieces were retained by the printer, although larger print runs do occur as well. These often feature mounting remnants as that is how they were typically stored in archives.
Bank specimens: Distributed to the issuing authority. Often, these were retained for reference, while others were sent out to other banks worldwide as a sample of the currency in circulation at the time. These are the most commonly seen specimen type.
Collector’s Series Specimens: Not true specimens, but notes overprinted for collectors, and often sold below face value.

For each category above, there can be subvarieties, depending on printer, series or date of issuance. We can also add color trial specimens to this list, which are similar to the issued notes, but printed in different colors (for example lot 70255, printed in blue instead of brown).

Here are some examples of Iranian notes found in the present sale that highlight the different varieties of specimens, and the collector opportunities these present:

20 Rials ND (1937) P-34s:

Lot 70219: Bank specimen

Lot 70220: Printer’s archival specimen

5 Rials ND (1944) P-39s:

Lot 70228: Printer’s archival specimen

Lot 70229: Bank specimen

10,000 Rials ND (1981) P-134as:

Lot 70267: Printer’s archival specimen

Lot 70268: Bank specimen

Each series is a little different. For example, later bank specimens from Iran feature a red specimen overprint in Arabic on the front and an English overprint on the back. To see one of those bank specimens, see lot 70242, also included in the present sale.

It’s rare to see a diverse group of specimen notes offered in the same sale, regardless of country, which is exactly what inspired this blog. While some specimen varieties are significantly scarcer than others, current market prices often don’t reflect that rarity, at least not yet. For advanced collectors looking to take a collection to the next level, exploring specimen varieties of otherwise common notes can open the door to an entirely new and rewarding area of specialization.