Turkey AH 1293(8) 20 para
The first specimen was lot 2377 in Stephen Album sale 37 (Santa Rosa, CA, June 2020), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "TURKEY: Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, AR 20 para, AH1293 year 8, one-year type, AU." The second specimen was lot 1978 in Steve Album Auction 55 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2026), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[2] noted, "TURKEY: Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, AR 20 para, Kostantiniye, AH1293 year 8 (1883), a superb lustrous mint state example! PCGS graded MS65. Part of a small group of 42 coins of this accessional date and regnal year purchased by Maj. Fred S. Pridmore in Cyprus in the 1960s." Under the Ottomans after 1839, forty para made a kuruş and 100 kuruş made a Turkish pound or lira. The Turkish pound was about 9.6% lighter than the British sovereign. The twenty para was 1/200 of a lira or about equal to a British penny. This is the last time this denomination was struck in silver; later issues were made of nickel.
Recorded mintage: 350,000.
Specification: 0.60 g, 0.830 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-734.
- 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 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.
- [2]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 55, featuring Selections from the Swamperbob Gurney Collection of Cap & Ray 8 Reales, the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins and the 1914 Collection of World Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2026.
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