'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎512] (571/714)

512
PERSIA
actually a piece of money of ten silver krans, worth about 5s. 9d. Now toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. is
a word introduced into Persian by the Mongols, under Jenghiz Khan, in the
thirteenth century. It signifies 'ten thousand,' and, amongst other applications,
was used to mean ten thousand dinars. The dinar was a gold coin of 52 grains,
equivalent, therefore, to a fraction more than half a sovereign ; consequently a
toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. was worth about 5,000Z.
With the Sefavi dynasty, during the sixteenth century, the toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. ceased to be
equivalent to 10,000 gold dinars, and under Abbas the Great a toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. of money
was equivalent to 50 abhassis —a silver coin weighing about i:50 grains—and the
value of the toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. was about 3Z. 7s. The abhassi was divided into four shahis,
weighing each 18 grains of silver, and worth about id. The toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , as it does
to-day, still figured in accounts as 10,000 dinars, but the dinars became a mere
money of account, without any coin to represent it.
The weights of the silver coinage were soon reduced, and in 1(;78 one toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
(or 50 abbassis) was worth 21. 6«. 8^. At the beginning of the eighteenth century,
under Shah Sultan Husein, the ahbassi weighed only 84 grains, and the toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. was
worth about 11. 4s., and under Nadir Shah, some years later, the abbassi was
reduced to 72 grains, and the toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. was worth IZ. 18s.
In Sir John Malcolm's History of Persia, published in 1815, the toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. is put
down at \l. Under Fath Ali Shah, who died in 1885, Itra/ns, each weighing 142
grains, were first coined, and a hran was e jual to 5 abbassis or 20 shahis, and was
the tenth part of a toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , which was worth 15s.
The shahis ceased to be silver coins, and with a further reduction in the weight
of the hran, silver abbassis were also abolished. The It ran experienced several
reductions in weight; already in 1839, ten of them, or one toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , were worth
only 10s. ; and now, in 1891, the toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. is worth about 5s. 9r/.
The abbassi, or one-fifth of a hran, is worth less than \\d., and the shahi is a
copper coin weighing 77 grains, and worth a quarter of that amount.
It is tolerably certain that the people had to bear the weighty burden of these
tamperings with the standard, and, as in other countries, the decrease in weight
or fineness of coin was no more than an indirect and very severe tax. Of the copper
coinage, we are told, for instance, that it was considerable, that each town had its
own coinage, and that it was re-minted every year at a reduction, and that the
old coin was forcibly bought up at par with the new coin of lesser weight.
In the seventeenth century one pound of copper was coined into 46 kasheks,
worth Is. 4d., giving a profit of 15 per cent. The Shah in 1672 received a royalty
of 2 per cent, on the mintage. Three inferences may, I think, be drawn from the
fragmentary notices we have of currency matters, viz.: that the riches of the
country have greatly decreased ; that the circulating medium has for ages been
below the wants of the country ; and that one of the causes of this lack of coin is
the hoardings of the Government and, doubtless, also of the people.
Any one who has examined a handful of old Persian coin— i.e. coin minted
before 1877—will understand the difficulty there is in counting (for weighing is
out of the question) and examining any considerable sum. A thorough and well
thought-out reform is, therefore, of great urgency, as a first step to the economic
regeneration of the country. Unfortunately, to bring about such a reform, the
Persian Government must give up all its old ideas of administration, and its profits
obtained by farming out the mint; in fact, it must submit to be absolutely guided
by European theory and practice.
Attempts have been made of late years to attain this object, but they have
failed, on account of the public weal having frequently given way to temporary
profit. In 1863 Monsieur Davoust was invited to Teheran to take charge of the