Turkey AH 1293(9) 2 kurush
This specimen was lot 502 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $900. The catalog description[1] noted, "TURKEY: Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, AR 2 kurush, Kostantiniye, AH1293 year 8 (1883), a stunning lustrous toned mint state example! PCGS graded MS67. Part of a small group of 14 coins of this accessional date and regnal year purchased by Maj. Fred S. Pridmore in Cyprus in the 1960s." In the 1830's, the regime attempted to implement the Tanzimat reform to modernize the government and the military, the better to resist European (particularly Russian) encroachment. One reform was the introduction of milled coinage in 1839, where all the medieval denominations were dropped for a decimal system where the crown size silver coin was twenty kuruş and the sovereign size gold coin was 100 kuruş. This system survived until the collapse of the Ottoman regime after World War One. This two kuruş, roughly equal to a dime, was struck in substantial quantities in years 8 thru 34.
Recorded mintage: 605,000, a common date despite the modest mintage.
Specification: 2.41 g, 0.830 silver, 0.064 oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM-736.
- 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 1687-1839 (AH 1099-1255), Istanbul: Anka Matbaacilik, 2010.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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