The kharub was a fractional unit of the Tunisian monetary system under Ottoman suzerainty, and billon issues like this one were the workhorses of small daily transactions in the souks. Mahmud II's long reign saw Tunis increasingly pressured by European creditors and French expansionism — the same decades that ended with the French invasion of neighboring Algeria in 1830, which sent a direct warning to the Husainid beys about the limits of Ottoman protection.
Billon coins from Tunis in this period are frequently found heavily worn or corroded, the alloy being particularly susceptible to the humid Mediterranean climate.
The kharub was a fractional unit of the Tunisian monetary system under Ottoman suzerainty, and billon issues like this one were the workhorses of small daily transactions in the souks. Mahmud II's long reign saw Tunis increasingly pressured by European creditors and French expansionism — the same decades that ended with the French invasion of neighboring Algeria in 1830, which sent a direct warning to the Husainid beys about the limits of Ottoman protection.
Billon coins from Tunis in this period are frequently found heavily worn or corroded, the alloy being particularly susceptible to the humid Mediterranean climate.