1/2 Mithqal - Tahmasb I

Tahmasb I ruled the Safavid Empire for over fifty years — the longest reign in the dynasty's history — yet his relationship with coinage was complicated by chronic treasury pressures and prolonged Ottoman conflict. The Peace of Amasya in 1555 ended the first phase of the Ottoman-Safavid wars, but fiscal strain never fully abated, and fractional gold denominations like this half mithqal circulated alongside debased silver in an economy where full mithqals were hoarded rather than spent.

By 1569, Tahmasb was in his final years, increasingly withdrawn and religiously austere. He had expelled the Qizilbash from court influence decades earlier.