The currency of Iran- What is the difference between Toman and Rial? Where should we exchange the money?

Traveling to Iran, knowing the currency of Iran is of great importance. Here we provide you with an abstract of what we tell the travelers to Iran. The knowledge of currency exchange in Iran would be very practical for you.

Currency is usually in the form of bills in Iran and today because of a huge decrease in the value of the currency, coins don’t have an equivalent financial value. We have provided you the picture of each bill at the end of this text. The official currency of Iran is Rial. But the medium of exchange that people usually trade with and talk about is Toman. The difference is only one zero. Wait and get the whole point with the explanation that follows.

To understand it better, we provide you with an example. The 500 thousand Rial bill. As you see the number 500’000 is printed on the bill with five zeroes. But this bill is known as the 50’000 Toman bill among people which is with four zeroes. Toman means one zero lower than Rial.

Let me provide you with a situation. If you go to a shop in Iran, the shopkeeper tells you that you have to pay 50 thousand Tomans, so you give him a 500 thousand Rial bill. The majority of the trade in Iran is done with Toman among people. If you go to a bank (which is not necessary for the foreign travelers), all the calculations are in Rial. Also all the accountings in the companies and offices are in Rial. So if someone uses the word Toman, you have to choose a bill with an added zero to the mentioned price.

Be sure that no one would attempt to defraud you in Iran and having several years of experience in this case, we know that most people try to help you understand the difference between these two.