(Tümən in Azerbaijani
, تومان in Persian
, pronounced ), is a superunit of the official currency of Iran, the rial
. Toman, derived from a Turkic
word meaning ten thousand (see tumen
), was the currency of Iran
until 1932. It was divided into 10,000 dinar
. Between 1798 and 1825, the toman was also subdivided into 8 rial
, each of 1250 dinar. In 1825, the qiran
was introduced, worth 1000 dinar or one tenth of a toman.
In 1932, the rial
replaced the toman at a rate of 1 toman = 10 rials (i.e., 1 rial = 1 qiran). Although the rial is the official currency of Iran, many Iranians employ the term toman in everyday transactions for an amount of 10 rials. In unofficial circumstances, a toman may also refer to either 1,000 tomans or 1,000,000 tomans. The order of the magnitude of the amount would be considered to be apparent from the context.
Iranian gold coins were denominated in toman, with copper and silver coins denominated in dinar, rial or qiran. Before the introduction of milled coins, denominations were ¼, ½ and 1 toman. Milled gold coins were issued in denominations of , ½, 1, 2, 5 and 10 toman. The last gold toman were issued in 1965, well after the toman had ceased to be an official currency.
In 1890, the Imperial Bank of Persia
introduced notes in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 toman. These notes were issued until 1923. In 1924, a second series was introduced, consisting of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 toman... Read More