Turkey AH 1223(4) 1/4 zeri mahbub
This specimen was lot 2349 in Stephen Album sale 37 (Santa Rosa, CA, June 2020), where it sold for $77.35. The catalog description[1] noted, "TURKEY: Mahmud II, 1808-1839, AV rubiye, Kostantiniye, AH1223 year 4, Unc, ex Ahmed Sultan Collection. The rubiya ("quarter") is ¼ of the sultani (findik), which was struck to the standard of about 3.50g until reduced to 3.20 g under Mustafa IV. Thus this rubiya is exactly ¼ of the reduced sultani. It is not ¼ of the zeri mahbub, which weighed about 2.60 g, even though this classification has been almost universal in the KM and other catalogs. It should correctly be called ¼ sultani, ¼ findik, or ¼ eshrefi (three different terms for the same denomination)." This type was struck years 1-5 and is not expensive. Most are holed, perhaps having been removed from the costumes of belly dancers. While we don't wish to contest the scholarship of so august an authority as Steve Album, we feel compelled to follow the classification used in the SCWC and Friedberg.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.75-0.79 g, gold, this specimen 0.82 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-88, KM-605.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- 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.
- 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 Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 37, featuring the Gamal Amer Collection of Egyptian Coins and the Ahmed Sultan Collection of Ottoman Coins, Part II, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2020.
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