Algiers AH 1238 sultani
This specimen was lot 2051 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $510. The catalog description[1] noted, "ALGIERS: Mahmud II, 1808-1830, AV sultani, Jaza'ir, AH1238, VF." From the sixteenth century until its final suppression in the early nineteenth century, piracy was the main source of revenue for the north African states of Algiers, Tunis and Morocco. Its end weakened those states and made them easy prey for European colonizers, particularly France, which invaded and conquered Algeria in the 1840's. The French found the interior tribesmen extremely obstreperous as had the previous regime, and never succeeded in imposing obedience. The first sultani is noted in Friedberg for the reign of Murad III (1574-95 AD) and was an imitation of a Venetian ducat. This type was issued AH 1235-1245 with most dates priced the same. Half and quarter sultanis also exist.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.2 g, gold, this specimen 2.96 g.
Catalog reference: KM-66, NP-739.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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