Egypt AH 1293(16) 5 qirsh
The coin shown is a gold five qirsh from the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. 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 5 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 1293 year 16, which translates to about 1890 AD. Uslu[1] lists this issue as rare.
The example shown was sold as part of lot 611 on Dec 13, 2011 at the Kunker Auction #199 in Osnabruck, Germany, for 130 euros. The catalog description reads:
"OSMANISCHE MÜNZEN 'ABD AL-HAMÎD KHAN II. (TÜRKEI-TÜRKISCH: ABDÜLHAMIT HAN) 10. SHA’BÂN 1293 - 6. RABÎ II 1327 H. 31. AUGUST 1876 - 27. APRIL 1909, GESTORBEN 10. FEBRUAR 1918 Goldprägungen der Münzstätte Misr (Kairo) 5 Kurush 1293 H., 16 und 18, Misr (Kairo). al-Ghâzî neben der Tughra. 0,42 und 0,42 g. 2 Stück. GOLD. Vorzüglich (Ottoman coins of Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, Cairo mint. Gold five qirsh of AH 1293, years 16 and 18, with "al Ghazi" near the toughra, extremely fine.)"
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.420 g, 0.875 fine gold, 0.0118 troy oz AGW. This specimen 0.42 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-97 (formerly Fr-22a), KM 298; Ölcer 34.560, Pere 977.
- 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.
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