The Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) announced on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 (17 Shahrivar 1405) that the initial offering of the central bank's "standard parallel salaf bonds on the full Bahar Azadi coin, 1386 mintage" will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, September 9, 2026 (18 Shahrivar 1405), from 11:45 to 18:00 under the symbol "Asakkeh 2". A salaf bond is a standardised forward contract sold on the exchange against a physical commodity.
The important figure in the announcement is the ratio between its two numbers: 100,000 coins, issued as 100 million notes. That makes each coin 1,000 notes, so the trading unit in this market is not a whole coin.
Background
The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran said on Saturday, September 5, 2026 (14 Shahrivar 1405) that it would issue "standard parallel salaf bonds on the full coin" for the first time on 18 Shahrivar, with 100,000 full Bahar Azadi coins and a three month maturity in the first phase, as reported by ISNA and carried by Donya-e-Eqtesad the same day, and by Ecoiran on September 6 citing the central bank. Under that announcement, holders may take physical delivery of the coin at maturity or use the 7 percent return set for the bonds, and may also sell before maturity.
What today added was the operational detail. Rahman Arasteh, head of the derivatives and new financial instruments market at the Iran Mercantile Exchange, told Radio Eqtesad's "Rooye Khat-e Eqtesad" programme, in remarks carried by the exchange's own news service Kalakhabar on September 8, 2026, that the bonds trade through an ordinary equity trading code, that the purchase cap for individuals is 100 coins, and that gold funds face no quantity limit when buying them.
The coin these bonds are written on has had a volatile few weeks. We examined the gap between the coin's market price and its intrinsic value in our report on the Emami coin premium of 3 September 2026. The mechanics of the salaf and deposit certificate markets are explained in our lesson What Is the Iran Mercantile Exchange. The offering itself is logged on our calendar entry for the first parallel salaf bonds on Emami coins.
The state's other gold channel ran on the same day: the 155th gold bullion auction was held at the Iran Currency and Gold Exchange Center on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. That auction is not a public market. Under the centre's published rules, carried by Khabaronline on September 7, only four groups of traders may take part: wholesale bullion sellers, gold jewellery manufacturers, melted gold retailers and online melted gold sales platforms. The total fee per trade is 40 million rials. The contrast between the two channels is the point: the bullion auction is for the trade, and tomorrow's offering is open to anyone holding a brokerage trading code.
The numbers
All figures below are as of Tuesday, September 8, 2026 (17 Shahrivar 1405) unless another date is given beside them.
- Offering terms: 100,000 coins, equal to 100 million notes, under the symbol "Asakkeh 2", on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, from 11:45 to 18:00 (Iran Mercantile Exchange announcement).
- Method: symbol opening through a single price auction. The price band is plus or minus 5 percent on the offering day and plus or minus 10 percent in secondary trading.
- Pricing basis: the closing price of the gold coin deposit certificate on the Iran Mercantile Exchange in the last trading session before the offering.
- Secondary trading: from 12 September 2026 (21 Shahrivar 1405) to 9 December 2026 (18 Azar 1405).
- Purchase cap for individuals: 100 coins. Gold funds: no quantity limit.
- Emami coin on the free market: 234,995,000 tomans (2,349,950,000 rials), up 2.17 percent, Sahmino price series, 19:59.
- The same rate from two other sources that night: TGJU at 2,349,900,000 rials (20:07), and Donya-e-Eqtesad citing the Gold and Jewellery Union at 234,500,000 tomans (17:21).
- 18 carat gold: 23,623,400 tomans per gram, up 2.43 percent, Sahmino price series.
- Global gold ounce: 4,393.08 dollars, down 0.27 percent.
- Free market dollar: 226,700 tomans, up 2.07 percent.
- The Emami coin three months earlier, on Tuesday, 9 June 2026 (19 Khordad 1405): 1,809,850,000 rials. The distance from that date to tonight is 29.83 percent (TGJU, 8 September 2026).
Drivers
The arithmetic at the centre of this story is one division, and any reader can do it. The exchange's announcement puts 100,000 coins at 100 million notes; 100 million divided by 100,000 is 1,000. So one note is one thousandth of a coin. Apply that ratio to tonight's Emami coin rate and 234,995,000 tomans divided by 1,000 is 234,995 tomans. This is what Hamid Yari, deputy for supervision of exchanges and issuers at the Securities and Exchange Organization, called "the ability to buy part of a gold coin" in remarks to the SENA capital market news agency on September 8, 2026.
One caution about that figure: 234,995 tomans is not tomorrow's offering price. The exchange stated plainly that the pricing basis is the closing price of the gold coin deposit certificate on the Iran Mercantile Exchange in the last session before the offering, not the free market rate, and Sahmino does not carry that certificate in its price series. So the figure above is the size of one note measured against tonight's free market rate, and it is not an estimate of tomorrow's opening price. These are two different pricing mechanisms and treating them as one is an error.
The maturity mechanism explains why the instrument was designed to suit two different groups. The maturity is three months, and at that date the holder chooses between physical delivery of the coin and cash settlement at the 7 percent return announced by the central bank, with the option to sell the note in the secondary market before then. To measure that 7 percent against something, one historical figure is available: the Emami coin itself rose 29.83 percent between 9 June 2026 and tonight. That is a measurement of the past and proves nothing about the next three months, but it shows why the choice between physical delivery and cash settlement, rather than the 7 percent itself, is the core of this contract.
Sahmino makes no claim about how well the offering will be received. What is reported here is that on September 8, 2026 the Iran Mercantile Exchange published the size, symbol, hours, price band and pricing basis of this offering.
Outlook
This section is a reading, not news. The offering going ahead on the announced date is not certain: Hamid Yari said on September 8 that the offering on 18 Shahrivar is "conditional on the necessary guarantees being confirmed by the Central Securities Depository and settlement company". He also predicted the scheme would be well received by individual buyers and gold based investment funds. That is his forecast, not our measurement.
Sahmino gives neither a buy nor a sell recommendation. What is set out above is measurement, and every figure carries its date and its source.
Bottom line
On September 8, 2026, the Iran Mercantile Exchange said the central bank's first standard parallel salaf coin bonds will be offered tomorrow under the symbol "Asakkeh 2": 100,000 coins issued as 100 million notes. This matters because it shrinks the purchase unit from a whole coin to one thousandth of a coin; at tonight's free market rate, one note's share of a coin is 234,995 tomans. The one thing to remember: each note is one thousandth of a coin, and its opening price comes from the coin deposit certificate on the exchange, not from the free market rate.
Sahmino's reading as of September 8, 2026: the Asakkeh 2 offering goes ahead tomorrow and the symbol stays inside its 5 percent band on the offering day, as long as the Central Securities Depository confirms the guarantees for the offering. The level this reading is held to is 5 percent, and its horizon is the end of Wednesday, September 9. A postponement of the offering, or an opening outside the 5 percent band, invalidates it.
What to watch
- The closing price of the gold coin deposit certificate in the last session before the offering, which is tomorrow's pricing basis.
- How much of the 100 million notes on offer actually sells.
- The start of secondary trading on 12 September 2026 and how the symbol behaves inside its 10 percent band.
- The gap between one note's price and one thousandth of the day's free market coin rate, which can be followed on our Emami coin price page.
- The 18 carat gold rate, from which the coin's intrinsic value is built.
None of the above is a trading recommendation; it is a list of the things that make today's figure measurable in the days ahead.
