1/4 Mithqal - Tahmasp I Safavi Tabriz - Fourth Gold Standard

Tahmasp I's fourth gold standard, introduced in the late 1540s, was part of a broader Safavid effort to impose metrological coherence on a monetary system that had fractured badly across regional mints. Tabriz, as the dynastic capital until its vulnerability to Ottoman incursion forced administrative shifts, remained the prestige mint — issues from it carry an implicit official weight even when individual pieces deviate slightly in practice.

The years 1549–1554 fall squarely within the period following the Ottoman-Safavid Peace of Amasya negotiations, when Tahmasp was consolidating internal authority after decades of Qizilbash factional pressure.