Catalog
4 Kharub - Abdulmecid I
| Issuer | Tunisia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1840 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Within a decorative lobed cartouche reminiscent of Ottoman floral ornamental design, a two-line Arabic legend records the mint name and AH date of issue. Above the central inscription, a small tughra or floral finial device is visible at the top of the cartouche. The legend reads 'Struck in Tunis, 1256' in elegant Arabic script. The cartouche is surrounded by an open field, with a beaded inner border and a tooth-and-dot outer border consistent with the obverse. |
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| Reverse lettering | ضرب في تونس ۱٢٥٦ (Translation: Struck in Tunis 1256) |
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| Additional information |
Tunisia in 1840 was nominally Ottoman territory but functionally autonomous under the Husainid beys, a dynamic that produced a distinctive dual-authority coinage — Ottoman tughra alongside Tunisian regnal references — that satisfied Istanbul without surrendering local administrative identity. Abdulmecid I had ascended the Ottoman throne just a year earlier, in 1839, meaning this issue was among the first Tunisian coins to bear his cipher.
Billon coinage of this type circulated hard in the Tunisian interior and shows it. Survivors in problem-free condition are genuinely scarce.