Ruler’s name & His Reign: Ahmad Shah Qajar (AD 1909-1925)

Mint: Tehran, 1340AH (AD1921) RARE DATE
Metal & Denomination: Silver 5000 dinars (machine struck)
Size: 36 mm.
Weight: 23.0251 gr.

Obverse: The legend: al-Sultan Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shahanshah-e Iran over the head of the Shah with date.

Reverse: Sun and lion holding a sword with the crown on top center.

Reference: KM #1058.

Notes:  This is one of the rarest dates of this king’s 5000 dinars. The only rarer dates than 1340 are the ones from 1331 & 1339AH respectively. The 1331 date is very rare.

BRIEF HISTORY:
The Qajar Royal tribe are Turkoman in origin and claim descent from a certain Ka-An-Lo, through the daughter of Ka'an, a son of Genghis Khan. The tribe is divided into several branches of which the Devehlu (cameliers) and Quyunlu (shepherds) branches were the most important. The ruling house is descended from the latter. They came to prominence during the early 18th century, when the central authority in Persia had been weakened. Iran was a divided country with regional centers of power, ruled by different dynasties each in a state of continuous warfare with its neighbor. The Qajar chiefs switched their allegiances between the Afshars and the Zands through much of the century. Eventually they fell out with both. Tiring of playing kingmakers to others, Agha Muhammad, the head of the Quyunlu branch of the Qajar tribe, defeated and deposed the Afshar and Zand. He succeeded in wresting supreme power and united the Empire under his rule as Shahanshah. His successors ruled Persia until the coup d'etat of Reza Shah ousted Ahmed Shah and established the new Pahlavi dynasty in 1925.  Cited from the Internet site:  http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Persia/qajar.htm

For further information on Qajar family past and present, see Mr. Eskandari’s excellent site: http://www.qajarpages.org/qajtoc.html