Turkey AH 1223(1) 5 para
This specimen was lot 1825 in Steve Album Auction 52 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2025), where it sold for $60. The catalog description[1] noted, "TURKEY: Mahmud II, 1808-1839, BI 5 para, AH1223 year 1, two-year type, XF-AU, R, ex Ralph A. Cannito (with tag)." Ottoman coins were dated using regnal years; the reverse bears the date AH 1223 (= 1808 A.D.) while the obverse bears the regnal year 1 (= 1808 A.D.). The Hejira calendar uses a lunar year instead of a solar year, so its starting date moves from year to year. This type was issued during years 3-14. The continuous debasement occurring during this reign meant that most coin types were shortlived and the distinctions between them often arbitrary. After the reform of 1839, the kuruş was stabilized as a coin the size of a half dime. The five paras, equal to one-eighth of a kuruş, was eventually converted to a copper coin. This type was struck years 1-2 only before being reduced in weight (KM 558).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.5-1.6 g, 0.465 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-552, Cr-173.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Uslu, Kaan, Beyazit, M. Fatih, and Kara, Tuncay, Ottoman Empire Coins, Istanbul: Mas Matbaacilik A.S., 2007.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Dustin Wagner, Auction 52, featuring the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection and the Almer H. Orr III Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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