Turkey AH 1255(17) 20 kurush
This specimen was lot 446 in Stephen Album sale 43 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2022), where it sold for $2,400. The catalog description[1] noted, "TURKEY: Abdul Mejid, 1839-1861, AR 20 kuruş, Kostantiniye, AH1255 year 17, a wonderful lustrous mint state example and rare so nice! PCGS graded MS64." This denomination was introduced during the rule of Sultan Abdul Mejid (r. 1839-61). Ottoman coins were dated using regnal years; the reverse bears the date AH 1255 (= 1839 A.D.) while the obverse bears the regnal year 17 (1854). The Hejira calendar uses a lunar year instead of a solar year, so its starting date moves from year to year. This type was struck years 15-23 and this is a common date.
Recorded mintage: 410,000.
Specification: 24.05 g, 0.830 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-676, Dav-403.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns and Talers, Since 1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- 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 43, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2022.
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