Egypt AH 1293(18) 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 accession date and the text minted in Misr (Misr is Arabic for Egypt). The date is written as AH 1293 year 18, which translates to about 1892 AD.
This specimen was lot 2419 in Sincona sale 59 (Zürich, October 2019), where it sold for 75 CHF (about US$91 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"OSMANISCHES REICH | ´Abd al-Hamid Khan II, 1293-1327 H./1876-1909 (m. 1918) AD, 5 Kurush 1293 H./Jahr 18, Misr (Kairo). Tughra neben al-ghâzî über Wertangabe, Regierungsjahr über Münzstätte und Jahr des Regierungsanfangs. Vorzüglich-FDC. (Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, gold five qirsh of AH 1293, year 18, Cairo mint. Obverse: Tughra next to monogrammed "al-ghâzî" over the regnal year, reverse: mintmark and accession date. Extremely fine-uncirculated.)"
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.420 g, 0.875 fine gold, 0.0118 troy oz AGW. This specimen 0.40 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-97 (formerly Fr-22a), KM 298; Ölcer 34.561, Pere 977, Sultan coll. 611.
- 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.
- Uslu, Kaan, Beyazit, M. Fatih, and Kara, Tuncay. Ottoman Empire Coins, Istanbul: Mas Matbaacilik A.S., 2007.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, Sincona Auction 59: Gold and Silver Coins and Medals; Coins and Medals from Switzerland, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2019.
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