TEHRAN -- A rare collection of gold and silver coins dating back to Pre-Islamic era was recently donated to Astan-e Qods Razavi Museum’s Stamp and Banknote Section in the holy city of Mashhad.

The collection was donated by a private collector from Isfahan, Mahmud Kolahduzi, the Public Relations Office of the museum reported on Saturday.
The one-of-a-kind collection consists of 150 coins belonging to kings and sultans before and after Islam and includes items ranging from the Parthian era to the Qajar period.
The oldest coin belongs to the Parthian dynasty and was minted almost 2000 years ago. The coins were minted in large cities like Isfahan, Neyshabur, Yazd, Qazvin, Rasht, Tabriz and Tehran. The monetary units represented are drachma, dinar and dirham, and tuman and several others, the report added.
The collection contains 59 gold coins from the Abbasid (750 to 1258) to Qajar (1794 to 1925) dynasties. The coins, which are a great source for historians, researchers and students, are stamped with various patterns, designs, symbols, and images.
The Stamp and Banknote Section of the Astan-e Qods Razavi Museum houses a rich collection of rare stamps and coins and is visited by many Iranian and foreign pilgrims, tourists and philatelists.