Egypt AH 1293(3) 20 para
This specimen is a silver twenty para from the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. At the time, the currency system consisted of paras (fractional qirshes of both copper and silver), and silver qirsh multiples. Only the one qirshes are considered common; the remainder vary from rare to extremely rare. The date pictured is considered very rare by Uslu. The coins, though produced from planchets, are crudely made and weights vary. The obverse bears the toughra, or signature, of the sultan, with the denomination written below, in this case 20). A flower design is to the right of the toughra. The reverse carries the year of mintage (year 3 of reign) followed by the script 'minted in Misr' (Egypt). The year of accession (1293) is written below. The date of the coin translates to 1878 AD. Uslu[1] lists this issue as very rare.
The denomination 20 paras is equivalent to 5/10 qirsh under the post-1884 reform.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.55g, 0.833 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM 276.
- 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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