Part of a twelve-coin zodiac series issued by the Turkish State Mint in the mid-2000s, these pieces were struck as collector items during a period when Turkey was still adjusting to the "Yeni" (New) Lira redenomination introduced in 2005 — a reform that lopped six zeros off the old lira to end decades of triple-digit inflation and four-digit banknotes. The rectangular format is the tell: the series deliberately used non-circular flans to distinguish collector issues from circulating coinage.
Part of a twelve-coin zodiac series issued by the Turkish State Mint in the mid-2000s, these pieces were struck as collector items during a period when Turkey was still adjusting to the "Yeni" (New) Lira redenomination introduced in 2005 — a reform that lopped six zeros off the old lira to end decades of triple-digit inflation and four-digit banknotes. The rectangular format is the tell: the series deliberately used non-circular flans to distinguish collector issues from circulating coinage.