The recently announced update for the 500 thousand Iran Check has begun production, Majid Sanaie the head of minting for the Central Bank of Iran announced. The bank check now comes with a different color scheme and is smaller in size than the previous one. Currently, there are over eight billion bank notes in circulation, with the 50,000 rial and 100,000 rial notes changing hands most often. The official stated that checks have half the value of all circulating notes in Iran. Put together half-million and one million rial notes, called Iran-Checks, are around five percent of all circulating bank notes but have half the nominal value of them. The new note will stay out of circulation for a while as the bank has an ample supply of the old notes. “When our supply of the old 500,000 rial Iran-Checks is depleted, we will start circulating the new notes,” said the official. Over 500 million banknotes are destroyed by the central bank every year.
