Iranian Money

Just as in any other country there are various coins and banknotes in Iran. The official Iranian currency is called Rial which is used all over the country. Yet, things can get a little tricky because what people use in every day purchases is not Rial.

Topics

Toman and Rial
Paper Money
Coins

Toman and Rial

As we said Rial is the official currency but Iranians mostly use Toman. One Toman equals ten Rials or you can simply remove one zero from Rial value and you will have it in Toman. For example 2500 Rials = 250 Tomans. So it seems quite simple to calculate Toman, but sometimes things can get complicated.

When you ask prices, Iranians will mostly reply in Toman, not in Rial, but everything is based on Rial, so you have to know that when an Iranian asks for 10,000 Tomans you have to pay him 100,000 Rials. The other problem is that price tags in shops can be both in Rial or Toman. Usually in big shops the prices are written in Rial but in small shops it is always in Toman.

How to tell if it is Rial or Toman?

There is no specific rule to help you understand that a price tag is in Rial or Toman, so the best way is to ask the shop assistant. But we can give you some hints:

Mostly in Rial all tickets included bus, metro, airplane etc.; price tags in big chain shops, menus in big restaurants, prices in hotels, entrance fees for tourist attractions.

Mostly in Toman small shops and restaurants, any time you ask an Iranian how much something costs.