Iranian toman
The Iranian toman (Persian: تومان, romanized: tūmân, pronounced [tuː.mɒːn]; from Mongolian tümen "unit of ten thousand", see the unit called tumen) is a superunit of the official currency of Iran, the rial. One toman is equivalent to 10 rials. Although the rial is the official currency, Iranians use the toman in everyday life.
| -تومان (Persian) | |
|---|---|
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄10000 | Dinar (former) |
| 1⁄10 | Rial |
| Banknotes | |
| Freq. used | 1,000; 2,000; 5,000; 10,000; 50,000; and 100,000 |
| Coins | |
| Freq. used | 1⁄5, 1⁄2, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 25 |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) | Iran |
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Iran |
Originally, the toman consisted of 10,000 dinars. Between 1798 and 1825, the toman was also subdivided into eight rials, each of 1,250 dinars. In 1825, the qiran was introduced, worth 1,000 dinars or one-tenth of a toman.
In 1932, the rial replaced the qiran at par, with one toman being equal to 10 rial. On 7 December 2016, the Iranian government approved a call by the Iranian central bank to replace the Iranian rial with the more colloquially and historically known toman denomination. In early 2019, following the hyperinflation of the rial, the central bank made a new proposal, suggesting the currency be redenominated by introducing a new toman with a value of 10 rials.
In July 2019, the Iranian government approved a bill to change the national currency from the rial to the toman with one new toman equalling 10,000 rials, a process that would reportedly cost $160 million. The proposal would see the new toman divided into 100 qirans. This proposal was approved by the Iranian parliament in May 2020. The changeover was expected to be phased in for up to two years.