1/4 Heavy Ashrafi - Tahmasp I Safavi Herat - Third Gold Standard

Tahmasp I's reign saw the Safavid monetary system restructured multiple times in response to both Uzbek pressure on Khorasan and the chronic difficulty of maintaining consistent gold supplies through Herat. The "Third Gold Standard" designation reflects an administrative revaluation — not a new coin type, but a recalibrated weight standard imposed on existing fractional denominations. Herat, as a major eastern mint city, operated semi-autonomously during much of Tahmasp's reign, particularly after the Uzbek raids of the 1520s and 1530s repeatedly disrupted the region.

Album's C2593 grouping covers a transitional phase in Safavid metrology that remains incompletely documented.