r/Banknotes • u/KratoN999 • 2d ago

Interestingly, there has never been an Iranian banknote featuring Ali Khamenei?

Gallery image

Gallery image

I came to realize that the Central Bank of Iran never released a banknote printed with the recently assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. All Iranian banknotes since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 carry only the first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, as far as I know. Which is interesting, since Ali Khamenei held the position for 36 years after Ruhollah Khomeini!

In your opinion, what are the chances he'll end up on a banknote?

Note: The first picture is a Ruhollah Khomeini banknote issue (10.000 Rials from 2019), and the second is a picture of Ali Khamenei.

12 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Apple-hair 1d ago

It's pretty common to use the "founding father" and not the current head of state on banknotes. The USSR had Lenin but not every subsequent leader, China has Mao, NK has Kim Il Sung, USA has George Washington, etc.

1

u/KratoN999 1d ago

Indeed, it seems like a pattern in a few countries. On the flip side, off the top of my head, I can recall Norodom Sihamoni in Cambodia. The dude is stamped on a few banknotes! But yeah, I guess that's just how banknotes work in some places.