20 Qirsh - Mohammed local imitation

This piece belongs to the chaotic coinage produced in Sudan during the Mahdist revolt, when Muhammad Ahmad declared himself the Expected Mahdi in 1881 and rapidly dismantled Egyptian administrative control. By 1885 — the year Khartoum fell and General Gordon was killed — centralized mint operations had collapsed, and locally struck imitations of Egyptian qirsh coinage filled the vacuum. These were produced under improvised conditions, typically by craftsmen with no formal die-cutting training, which accounts for the significant variation in fabric and strike quality seen across surviving examples.

The weight of 23.65g places this piece close to the Egyptian standard, suggesting the silversmith had access to genuine coins as templates, if not to proper minting equipment.