Tripoli AH 1223(8) 5 para
This specimen was lot 2064 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $180. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRIPOLI: Mahmud II, 1808-1839, BI 5 para, Tarabulus Gharb, AH1223 year 8, superb bold strike, AU." In the eighteenth century, Tripoli 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. This type was struck with regnal dates 1-2, 7-11 and 17. It is very scarce in collectible condition. Theoretically, forty paras = one piastre, but the constant debasements threw the ratio into confusion.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: billon, 22-23 mm diameter, this specimen 4.11 g.
Catalog reference: KM-126.
- 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 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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