Catalog
1 Para - Mahmud II
| Issuer | Tripoli, Regency of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1808 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Irregular hammered flan bearing a central tughra-style calligraphic device in Arabic script, rendered in bold relief within a dotted border. The legend reads 'Sultan Mahmud Khan' together with the regnal year 1223 (AH), distributed around and within the field in characteristic Ottoman calligraphic style. The script fills the majority of the coin's surface, with the lettering showing the fluid, intertwined strokes typical of Ottoman hammered coinage of this period. The overall fabric is irregular, consistent with hand-struck production at a provincial Ottoman mint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Tripoli's regency coinage under Mahmud II occupied an awkward political space: the Karamanli dynasty still governed the province with considerable autonomy, yet Ottoman suzerainty required nominal acknowledgment on the coinage. By 1808, the Karamanlis were only a decade removed from their war with the United States — the First Barbary War — which had badly strained the regency's finances and its leverage over tribute arrangements. Small copper issues like this one circulated at the lowest transactional level, where Ottoman silver rarely reached.