Egypt AH 1293(3) 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 3, which translates to about 1878 AD. Uslu[1] lists this issue as rare.
The first example shown was sold as lot 606 on Dec 13, 2011 at the Kunker Auction #199 in Osnabruck, Germany, for 100 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., 3, Misr (Kairo). Mit Blume neben der Tughra. GOLD. Stempelglanz (Ottoman coins of Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, Cairo mint. Gold five qirsh, AH 1293, year 3, with bloom near the toughra, mint state.)"
The second specimen was lot 455 in Stephen Album sale 30 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2018), where it sold for $117.50. The catalog description[2] noted, "EGYPT: Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, AV 5 qirsh, Misr, AH1293 year 3, PCGS graded AU55."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.420 g, 0.875 fine gold, 0.0118 oz. AGW. The first specimen 0.47 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-96 (formerly Fr-22), KM 280; Ölcer 34.553.
- 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.
- [2]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 30, featuring the George Anderson Collection of Tibetan Coins, the Dr. John W. Lund Collection of Swedish Coins and the Mike Edwards Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2018.
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