Iraq 1938 20 fils
This specimen was lot 855 in Stephen Album sale 30 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2018), where it sold for $258.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "IRAQ: Ghazi I, 1933-1939, AR 20 fils, 1938/AH1357, a lovely example! NGC graded MS65." Iraq was for centuries a province of the Ottoman Empire but was coveted by the British for her oil deposits in the aftermath of World War One. Made a mandate of the League of Nations in 1922, a puppet kingdom was set up with a branch of the Hashemite clan as king. The kingdom lasted until Faisal II's overthrow in 1958 by an army junta which included Saddam Hussein. This type was struck 1938 only.
Recorded mintage: 1,200,000 plus 1,350,000 from Bombay ("I" mintmark).
Specification: 3.6 g, 0.500 fine silver, 20.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-106.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]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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