Egypt AH 1293(7) 5 qirsh
This specimen is a gold five qirsh piece from the seventh regnal year of the Sultan Abdul Hamid II. At the time, the currency system consisted of paras (fractional qirshes of both copper and silver), and silver and gold qirsh multiples. Of all the denominations of the time, only the one qirshes are considered common; the remainder vary from rare to extremely rare. 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 5). A flower design is to the right of the toughra. The reverse carries the year of mintage (year 7 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 1882 AD. Uslu[1] lists this date as rare.
The first coin was lot 74221 in Heritage sale 440 (Long Beach, June 2007), where it sold for $149.50. The catalog description reads: "Abdul Hamid II gold 5 Kurush 1293/7, MS66 NGC, the last date struck at the old Cairo Mint." The second specimen was lot 456 in Stephen Album sale 30 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2018), where it sold for $211.50. The catalog description[2] noted, "EGYPT: Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, AV 5 qirsh, Misr, AH1293 year 7, NGC graded MS63." The third specimen was lot 22444 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2019), where it did not sell. The catalog description[3] noted, "EGYPT. 5 Qirsh, AH 1293 Year 7 (1881). Abdul Hamid II. NGC MS-67. Sharply struck with a dished appearance that results in a unique appearance. Undoubtedly RARE in this quality."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.42 g, 0.875 fine gold, 0.011 oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Fr-96 (formerly Fr-22), KM 280.
- 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.
- [3]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The August 2019 Chicago ANA Auction: World Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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