Egypt AH 1255(12) 50 qirsh
The coin shown is a gold fifty qirsh from the reign of Sultan Abdul Mejid. It was struck at the Cairo Mint. The obverse bears the toughra, or signature, of the sultan, with the denomination written below (abbreviated as the letter 'sh' for qirsh) with the number 50 above. A crude floral design sits right of the toughra. The reverse carries the accession date and the text minted in Misr (Misr is Arabic for Egypt). The date is written as AH 1255 year 12, which translates to about 1849 AD. Uslu[1] does not list this issue.
The example shown was sold as lot 131 on Dec 13, 2011 at the Kunker Auction #199 in Osnabrück, Germany, for 800 euros. The catalog description reads:
"OSMANISCHE MÜNZEN Münzen nach der Münzreform von 1845 Goldprägungen der Münzstätte Misr (Kairo) 50 Kurush 1255 H., 12, Misr (Kairo). GOLD. Von größter Seltenheit. Sehr schön (Ottoman coins of the reform of 1845, Cairo mint. Gold fifty qirsh, AH 1255, year 12, of the highest rarity, very fine.)"
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 4.272 g, 0.875 fine gold, 0.1202 AGW, this specimen 4.21 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-74 (formerly Fr-6), KM 234.2 (unlisted date); Ölcer (not listed); Pere. 882.
- 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]Uslu, Kaan, Beyazit, M. Fatih, and Kara, Tuncay. Ottoman Empire Coins, Istanbul: Mas Matbaacilik A.S., 2007.
Link to: