20 Qirsh - Abdullah

Issued under Abdullah ibn Muhammad — the Khalifa who succeeded the Mahdi following the fall of Khartoum in 1885 — this coin circulated within the Mahdist state during a period of near-constant military pressure from Egyptian and British forces to the north. The billon alloy reflects both limited refining capability and chronic silver shortages that plagued the Omdurman mint throughout the Khalifa's rule.

KM#7.2 distinguishes itself from the .1 variety by die characteristics specific to this emission. The Mahdist state would collapse entirely within six years of this striking, following Kitchener's victory at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.