Half Pahlavi Gold Coin

The Half Pahlavi (Persian Nim Pahlavi) is a small gold coin of Iran valued at one-half of the full Pahlavi. The example shown carries a left-facing profile of Reza Shah Pahlavi in a military cap on the obverse and the Iranian Lion and Sun emblem — a standing lion holding a sword, a radiant sun behind it, a royal crown above and laurel branches to the sides — on the reverse.

The Pahlavi was Iran's principal gold denomination in the twentieth century, and the half-Pahlavi is the mid-size member of the family, struck below the full Pahlavi and above the quarter Pahlavi. Reza Shah–era pieces of this design date to roughly the late 1920s and 1930s (the coin's own date is given in the Solar Hijri calendar in Persian numerals).

Like other Pahlavi gold, it was minted in a high gold fineness and was intended as much for saving and bullion holding as for circulation. Read the coin's date, denomination word and portrait style to place it, and confirm weight and fineness before relying on any single attribution.

Reza Shah Pahlavi came to power in 1925 and founded the Pahlavi dynasty, launching a broad program of state modernization that included reforming Iran's coinage. Gold coins denominated in Pahlavi replaced the older toman-based gold, and were struck at the Tehran mint in denominations that included the quarter, half, one, two and higher Pahlavi units.

Early Reza Shah gold carried his portrait in military uniform and cap, paired with the national Lion and Sun (Shir o Khorshid) — a centuries-old Persian emblem here surmounted by the Pahlavi crown. Dates on these coins follow the Solar Hijri (SH) calendar; the Reza Shah gold Pahlavis were struck in the years surrounding SH 1305–1310, corresponding to the second half of the 1920s and into the 1930s.

The Pahlavi gold system continued and expanded under Reza Shah's successor, Mohammad Reza Shah, remaining a standard vehicle for gold savings in Iran for decades. Half-Pahlavi coins with the Reza Shah portrait belong specifically to this founding period of the dynasty; precise dating of any individual piece depends on reading its Persian date and comparing it to catalogued examples.

Start with the obverse portrait. This coin shows a bare-headed-to-capped bust: Reza Shah in profile facing left, wearing a military cap and uniform. That uniformed portrait, together with a Persian legend naming the Shah, is the key marker of the Reza Shah issues as opposed to later Pahlavi types.

Turn to the reverse and confirm the Lion and Sun. Look for a standing or seated lion, typically holding a sword, with a radiating sun behind or above it, a crown at the top and laurel or wreath branches framing the design. The denomination — half a Pahlavi (Nim Pahlavi) — and the date appear in Persian script and Persian-Indic numerals; transcribe both.

Check size and weight against the denomination. A half Pahlavi is a small gold coin, noticeably smaller and lighter than a full Pahlavi and larger than a quarter Pahlavi; the standard Pahlavi gold was struck in high fineness (0.900). Because the design has been widely restruck and copied, do not rely on appearance alone: record the exact weight and diameter, note any edge features, and remember that gold color does not by itself prove gold content.

A genuine half-Pahlavi has a firm floor set by its gold content: it is a small coin of high-fineness gold, so its intrinsic (bullion) value tracks the gold market for its weight. Any premium above that rests on the coin being authentic, on its date and preservation, and on collector demand for Reza Shah–era Pahlavi gold specifically.

Early Reza Shah portrait Pahlavis can carry a numismatic premium over plain bullion when they are genuine and well preserved, but values vary widely by date and grade and by whether a piece is an original strike or a later restrike. Treat any single figure as general context rather than a fixed price, and check current gold prices plus recent auction and dealer results for the exact date and grade.

Because Pahlavi gold is heavily traded and widely imitated, official restrikes, jewelry-mounted pieces and outright fakes all circulate. Obtain independent metal testing and, for anything sold at a numismatic premium, a specialist opinion before assigning a firm value.