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Auction: 17049 - The Ambassador Marzban Collection of Persian Coins
Lot: 129

Pahlavi Dynasty, Mohammad Reza Shah (1941-79), reformed coinage, proof gold 750-Rials, 9.72g, SH1350 (1971), lion standing left above denomination and date within wreath of crowns, rev. cylinder of Cyrus below royal crest, within wreath of lotus buds (KM. 1190), graded PCGS PR67DCAM, high-relief frosted designs on mirror-like fields

The ancient Cylinder of Cyrus was used as a foundation stone or memorial following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539BC. It marks the date Cyrus the Great incorporated the area into his Persian Empire. A declaration is impressed in the clay of the cylinder in Akkadian cuneiform outlining the genealogy of Cyrus and describing him as a king of kings.
It was discovered in the ruins of Babylon in 1879 and then housed in the British Museum. It was put on display in Tehran in 1971 to commemorate 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire and adopted as a national symbol of Iran by the Imperial State.

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Sold for
£380