nd
that the monopoly granted to the Imperial Bank of Persia for the issue of
paper money has had excellent results, in Teheran particularly, where the
Bank is held in high esteem and the notes have been highly appreciated.
In other cities of Persia which I visited, however, the notes did not
circulate, and were only accepted at the Bank's agencies and in the
bazaar by some of the larger merchants at a small discount.

Naturally, with the methods adopted by Persians, and the insecurity which
prevails everywhere, the process of convincing the natives that a piece
of printed paper is equivalent to so many silver krans, and that the
silver krans will surely be produced in full on demand is rather a slow
one; but the credit of the Imperial Bank and the popular personality of
Mr. Rabino, the manager, have done much towards dispelling the
suspicions, and since 1890 the notes have assumed a considerable place in
the circulation. In September 1890 the circulation of them amounted to
29,000 tomans; in 1895 it had gradually increased to 254,000 tomans, and
by leaps and bounds had reached the sum of 1,058,000 in 1900.[1] It is
rather curious to note that in the previous year, 1899, the note
circulation was 589,000 tomans, and became very nearly double in the
following twelve months.

This only applies to Teheran and the principal cities; in the villages,
and in out-of-the-way towns, notes are out of the question, and even
silver coins are very scarce. A two-kran piece of the newer type is
seldom found, and only one-kran pieces, little irregular lumps of silver,
are occasionally to be seen. Copper is really the currency and is a mere
subsidiary or token coinage with a value fluctuating according to local
dearth or other causes at almost every place one goes to.

The precarious system of farming, accompanied by the corruption of
officials, has given an opportunity for most frequent and flagrant abuses
in the excessive over-issue of copper coin, so that in many cities copper
issued at the nominal value of 20 shais per kran was current at 30, 40,
50, and even, in Eastern Persia, at 80 shais per kran. I myself, on
travelling through Persia, never knew exactly what a kran was worth, as
in almost every province I received a different exchange of shais for my
krans. In Birjand and Sistan, particularly, the exchange differed very
considerably.

This state of maladministration affects the poorer classes, for the
copper currency forms the