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1 Sultani - Mehmed IV
| Issuer | Tunisia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1648-1680 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Hammered gold flan with a multi-line Arabic legend arranged in horizontal registers within a beaded inner border, mirroring the obverse format. The inscription comprises the sultan's honorific title declaring him the 'striker of gold, possessor of glory and victory on land and sea,' a standard Ottoman sovereignty formula. The calligraphy is executed in a bold Thuluth hand, with the text filling the field in characteristic North African Ottoman hammered-coin style. The irregular flan edges, typical of hand-struck issues of this period, are visible around the periphery. |
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| Reverse lettering | ضارب النضر صاحب العز والنصر في البر والبحر (Translation: Gold striker The glorious and victorious In the land and sea) |
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| Additional information |
Mehmed IV's reign was marked by the failed Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, but during the decades this sultani circulated, Tunisia operated as a semi-autonomous regency under the Muradid beys — nominally subject to Istanbul while conducting increasingly independent fiscal policy. The sultani denomination itself was the Ottoman gold standard, modeled on the Venetian ducat in weight and finesse when first introduced under Suleiman I a century earlier.
Tunisian sultanis from this period are notoriously variable in their striking quality, a product of local die-cutting rather than central Ottoman mint production.