Turkey AH 1293(3) 20 kurush
This specimen was lot 2036 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $780. The catalog description[1] noted, "TURKEY: Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, AR 20 kurush, Kostantiniye, AH1293 year 3, lustrous with light toning, a pleasing mint-state example with great eye appeal, PCGS graded MS62." 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 1293 (= 1876 A.D.) while the obverse bears the regnal year 3 (= 1878 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 years 1-3 and this is a common date. The silver twenty kuruş was last issued to this standard in 1918.
Recorded mintage: 5,940,000.
Specifications: 24.05 g, 0.830 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-722, Dav-405.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns and Talers, Since 1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- [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.
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