Tripoli AH 1223(22) 40 para KM-215
This specimen was lot 2010 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $510. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRIPOLI: Mahmud II, 1808-1839, BI 40 para (, Tarabulus Gharb, AH1223 year 22, F-VF." This type was struck years 21-25 along with 1, 10, 20, 30 para. It is quite scarce. Theoretically, forty paras = one piastre, but the constant debasements threw the ratio into confusion. In the eighteenth century, Tripoli, now part of Libya, was one of the Barbary States preying on commerce plying the Mediterranean. The bey of Tripoli and the United States fought a war in 1801-05 when the US refused the customary tribute.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: 10.18 g, billon, 35 mm diameter, this specimen 9.78 g.
Catalog reference: KM-215.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 51, featuring the Howard Daniel III Collection of Asian Coins, the Almer H. Orr III Collection of World Coins and the Joe Sedillot Collection of German Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
- Uslu, Kaan, Beyazit, M. Fatih, and Kara, Tuncay, Ottoman Empire Coins, Istanbul: Mas Matbaacilik A.S., 2007.
Links: