Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Shahi - Tahmasp I Fourth Standard
| Issuer | Safavid Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1547-1552 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | A#2602 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central field features a circular cartouche enclosing the Shi'a kalima or royal titulature in bold Arabic script, with the name and titles of Shah Tahmasp I rendered in a flowing nasta'liq style. Surrounding the central cartouche, further Arabic inscriptions occupy the field in sweeping cursive lines, consistent with the religious and dynastic formulae standard on Safavid Fourth Standard coinage. The overall composition is densely inscribed, filling the flan to its irregular edges, with no figurative imagery, in keeping with Islamic numismatic tradition. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Tahmasp I's Fourth Standard coinage reflects a period of relative monetary stabilization following decades of chaotic restriking and weight adjustments that had plagued Safavid silver since Ismail I. The shift between standards was administratively driven — Tahmasp issued at least five distinct weight standards across his extraordinarily long reign of over five decades, each responding to silver supply pressures, Ottoman competition, and the demands of an empire perpetually financing frontier warfare on multiple fronts.
The years 1547–1552 overlap with the Ottoman–Safavid conflict that had already seen Tabriz change hands twice.