Egypt AH 1277(8) 500 qirsh

Kunker sale 199, lot 265

The coin shown is a gold five hundred qirsh from the reign of Sultan Abdul Aziz. 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 500 above. A crude floral design sits right of the toughra. The reverse carries the ascension date and the text minted in Misr (Misr is Arabic for Egypt). The date is written as AH 1277 year 8, which translates to about 1867 AD. Uslu^[1] lists this issue as extremely rare.

The example shown was sold as lot 265 on Dec 13, 2011 at the Kunker Auction #199 in Osnabruck, Germany, for 4000 euros. The catalog description reads:

"OSMANISCHE MÜNZEN 'ABD AL-'AZÎZ KHAN (TÜRKEI-TÜRKISCH: ABDÜLAZIZ HAN)) 15. DHÛ I-HIJJA 1277 - 5. JUMÂDÂ II 1293 H. 25. JUNI 1861 - 30. MAI 1876, GESTORBEN 5. JUNI 1876 Goldprägungen der Münzstätte Misr (Kairo) 500 Kurush 1277 H., 8, Misr (Kairo). GOLD. Von größter Seltenheit, nur 118 Exemplare geprägt. Winz. Randfehler, vorzüglich Exemplar der Auktion UBS 57, Zürich 2003, Nr. 3312 (Ottoman coins of Abdul Aziz, 1861-76, Cairo mint. Gold five hundred qirsh, AH 1277, year 8, only 118 examples struck, very rare, hairlines, extremely fine. From UBS auction 57 (Zürich, 2003), lot 3312.)"

Recorded mintage: 118.

Specification: 42.72 g, 0.875 fine gold, 1.2018 oz. AGW, this specimen 42.56 g.

Catalog reference: Fr-78 (formerly Fr-10), KM 265; Ölcer 32.408.

Sources:

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:

Egypt AH 1277(8) 500 qirsh

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