Catalog
1 Para - Mahmud II
| Issuer | Tripoli, Regency of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1829-1830 |
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| Value | 1 Para (1⁄40) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field bearing the Arabic inscription 'Gharb' (غرب, meaning 'West'), denoting the Tripoli mint, accompanied by a decorative floral or foliate ornament below. The design is rendered in a loose, informal hand-struck style typical of hammered provincial Ottoman coinage. Small lozenge-shaped pellets flank the central motif in the field. The entire design is enclosed within a roughly circular border of fine beading. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
This copper para was struck under Ottoman suzerainty during one of the most turbulent periods in Tripolitanian history — the final years before the Karamanli dynasty collapsed entirely in 1835. By 1829, the Karamanli regime was hemorrhaging authority: a civil war between Yusuf Karamanli and his sons had fractured what remained of local governance, and the regency's coinage was increasingly erratic in both output and quality. These copper pieces circulated in a port economy heavily disrupted by the decline of the corsair trade following American and European naval interventions earlier in the century.