Tag: Iran stamp

In the late 1960s, Iran was getting wealthy enough and the Shah felt secure enough to begin presenting Iran to the world. Not as a new country but as the current manifestation of the ancient Persian Empire. To do so, a tower was constructed that was both modern and at the same time ancient. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Iran was obviously proud of the Shahyad Tower. It completed in 1971 and already by 1974 it was on it’s third stamp. It still stands under a new name but no longer appears on stamps. Shah era stamps show construction and modern Iranian stamps tend to show people.

Todays stamp is issue A443, a 20 Rials stamp issued by Imperial Iran in 1974. It was an 11 stamp issue in various denominations. The issue lasted a long time. In 1978 there was an update with the Shah’s portrait becoming a profile in gold. There is also a version from 1979 where the Shah gets crossed out. Those of course have the highest value. According to the Scott catalog, this stamp is worth 40 cents used.

In 1966, there was a local design competition regarding a monument to celebrate the 2500 year anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire. Iran is merely how you say Persia in Farsi. The competition was won by a young Iranian born and trained architect named Hossein Amanat. Construction utilized local stone, stonecutters, and cladding white marble from Isfahan province. Some of the structural work was farmed out to a British firm as they used a new woven stone structural technique. The tower was ready for the 1971 supposed 2500 year Persian anniversary and construction cost 6 million dollars. Underground at the base is a museum initially to artifacts of the Persian Empire. This included a fake copy of Cyrus the Great’s Charter that was then compared favorably with the then current Shah’s priciples of the 1960s reforms that the Shah called the White Revolution. Something old something new.

Shahyad Tower was a key place for anti regime protests during the last days of the Shah in 1978. It was after all a place named the Shah’s Memorial. The protests there initially made Mr. Amanat happy. Of course they were drawn to it the shape welcomes them with a father like embrace and already it looks like it has been there 1000 years.

The fall of the Shah in 1979 naturally lead to changes. The tower was renamed Azadi which means freedom and the displays in the museum now attempt to compare favorably the bravery of the anti Shah protestors to the decadence of the previous 2510 years. As you might expect at a Freedom tower, the complex still attracts anti government protestors. The current government is gradually allowing the complex to decay. Not all on purpose. Some releveling of the gardens has resulted in much water damage to the stone and marble as the area now drains poorly.

Hossien Amanat had to flee Iran in 1980. He is a member of the Bahai faith group that started in Persia in the 19th century but is much persecuted by the current Iranian regime. Amanat settled in Canada and designed the Bahai administrative center in Haifa, Israel. He has also designed high rise residential buildings in Canada, the USA and China.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Mr. Amanat. The Shah wanted to show how advanced Iran was becoming, and that indeed was what Mr. Amanat was trying to show. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020

The style of Iran changed completely in 1979 with the Islamic revolution. Islamists might claim it was really a reversion to how it had been before Shah Pahlavi and his father were the change. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamps that came shortly after the revolution introduced you to a lot of new people.  The Shah had 37 different Prime Ministers but didn’t bother you with any of them on the stamps. being nothings playing musical chairs, The Islamists had many people to show you. The Shah’s Prime Ministers didn’t all look the same but were. The Islamic Mullahs, with their unchanging attire all look the same. The fellow today Hassan Modares was a cleric, a teacher, and a politician. He had died 56 years before. Yet the stamp makes him look completely up to date.

Todays stamp is issue A599, a 10 Rials stamp issued by the Islamic Republic of Iran on October 23rd, 1923. It was part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations displaying religious and political figures. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

Seyd Hassan Modaress was born around 1870. Nobody is positive where but he turned up at a Madrassa in Isfahan. Isfahan had started as a Jewish city, but Hassan was of course studying the Muslim religion. He transitioned into an instructor from which he obtained the Modaress last name. Among his students was the future Ayatollah Khomeini. Modaress transitioned further into an official in the Justice Department of the Qajar Dynasty of Persian Shahs. His job was to insure that bills passed by the Majlis Assembly conformed to Islamic law.

He was a fairly traditional figure and as such came into conflict with Reza Khan, first when he was Prime Minister under the old Dynasty. Reza Khan intended to end the Kingdom and replace it with a Republic on the road to modernization and westernization. The oil was bringing in many foreigners and religious figures believed the Persian people were becoming subservient to them. Instead Reza Khan himself became Shah and Modaress a political opponent. Modaress was jailed and later died in jail in 1937.

Modaress was a believer in Iran being a Monarchy and early on so was Khomeini. For Khomeini, this changed with the Shah’s white revolution in 1963. This gave females the right to vote, promoted western secular education, and allowed non Islamics to hold political office. Many of the people, not just the religious leaders, found this to be an attack on their piety and ability to live their traditional way of life. Remember the oil money saw a few living a high western style life that must have seemed alien and even corrupt. By the time Khomeini was allowed to return to Iran in 1979, he believed the country needed an Islamic cleric as head of state to ensure that the foreign influences were stamped out.

Well my drink is empty and so I will patiently wait when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

One problem with royalty is that sometimes a country is left with one too young for the job. As here where the young Shah shows off finery from 300 years before and a different Persian Empire with a different royal line and indeed even a different capital. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The state of the Iranian Royals lets down this otherwise well designed stamp. A young son Shah recently replaced his father who was a foot soldier in the Persian Army promoted to an officer since he was the only guy who figured out how to use the army’s sole Russian machine gun. As an officer he was mister coup man until he declared himself Shah. So much for ancient blue blooded royals. Are Iranians to believe this Shah will build great monuments like Shah Abbas II or the ancients like Darius and Cedric. The Shah might answer, don’t worry, I will build plenty of Palaces and steel mills and airports that will far outlast my line.

Todays stamp is issue A71, a 25 Dinar stamp issued by the Kingdom of Iran in 1949. The stamp showed the Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan and was part of a 16 stamp issue in various denominations showing architectural wonders of Iran and Shah Pahlavi. I covered one of the others here,https://the-philatelist.com/2017/10/31/the-party-is-over-and-no-one-cleaned-up-the-mess/ . The stamp is worth $2 unused.

Isfahan was originally founded by Jews who had come from Babylon. The legend is that they had with them examples of the soil and water of Jerusalem and Isfahan closely matched it. Over time the city attracted Georgians and Armenians and had a golden period. In 642 Arabs captured the city and a decline set in. Around 1600 Persians under Shah Abbas  were inspired by the beautiful ruins and made Isfahan the new Persian capital. It was during this period when the Chetal Sotoun Palace( 40 columns) was built for the Persian Shah Abbas II to host foreign dignitaries. The insides were elaborately decorated with ceramic tile mosaics depicting history and allegories of love. Many of the tiles are still in place.

In 1722, Isfahan was looted by new invaders, this time from Afghanistan. Nobody will be surprised that they were not good stewards of the city. The Persian Empire capital left for Mashad never to return.

Shah Pahlavi turned out to be not such a bad steward of Isfahan. Under him the biggest steel mill in the middle east was constructed in Isfahan. The airport was expanded and the connected air force base contains many of the Iranian Air Forces F14 Tomcats acquired by the Shah to chase off Soviet cold war overflights by Mig 25s. You may remember the F14 from “Top Gun”. It is now 40+ years old and the Americans don’t use it anymore but the Iranians have found it irreplaceable. It is of course amazing they still fly without outside help.

Well my drink is empty and it would be wrong to get a toasting regarding a Muslim city. So I will patiently wait till tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story about how desiccated finery can lead to nostalgia.

Today’s stamp is from the early years of the Shah of Iran’s reign. You can see on the stamp a lot of Turkish and British influence. The Turk in the style of paper and the British in how the Royal is portrayed. Notice his dress is western and the portrait attempts to show him as a wise father figure. Some stamps from later in his rule show the Shah as an ageless profile. Much in the same way as Queen Elizabeth, and  Queen Victoria before her were displayed.

The stamp today is issue A71, a 5 dinar stamp issued by Imperial Iran in 1949. This was before the time of the Mossedeck coup but during when he served as one of the Shah’s appointed Prime Ministers. The stamp displays the Ramsar Hotel. It was part a 16 stamp issue that displayed various architectural landmarks that could be credited to the Shah. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents cancelled.

The Ramsar Hotel, now known as the old hotel, was built in the 1930s in the resort town of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea. A newer larger wing was built next to it in the 1960s. When built the hotel was quite grand, however time has not been kind to it. It still photographs well and was built in a very good location that captures the natural beauty. The hotel today however is in disrepair, expensive and has a poor staff. The original 5 star rating is more like a 2 star if you believe the online reviews.

This situation helps one to see how a leader like the Shah can see his reputation rise in terms of nostalgia. With no restraints and ample oil revenue, great edifices of prosperity are built. The connected class enjoys this high life with nightclubs, imported food and wine, and fine cars. Their women wore miniskirts and had uncovered hair. A movement rises up calling this decadent and forces him from power. With him goes all the high living and western decadence. No new edifices of prosperity are built and the ones from the former time fall into disrepair like the Ramsar Old Hotel.

Here is where the rub happens. If the average person does not feel his or her own life better under the new system resentment can form. The Shah built things, what have you done? Likely there is a class of people that benefits from the current system but they must keep their own high living hidden in a way the Shah’s people never did. The style of the old times takes on a new respect. This is how it should be. The former regime was not all bad and the current regime is not all good. Despite what the partisan of each will tell you.

Well my drink is empty and it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Have any of our readers stayed at the Ramsar Hotel, perhaps during the glory years? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.