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4 Kharub - Abdulmecid I and Muhammad II
| Issuer | Tunisia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1858-1859 |
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| Currency | Rial (1567-1891) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse field is entirely occupied by a multi-line Arabic inscription in bold, flowing script, reading 'Sultan Ghazi Abd al-Majid Khan', a reference to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid I as suzerain. The legends are arranged in three horizontal lines across the coin's face, with no figurative imagery. The inscription is framed by a continuous inner border of small beads running along the coin's circumference. The calligraphy is executed in a raised relief typical of Tunisian milled coinage of the mid-nineteenth century. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Tunisia's bimetallic coinage reform of the 1850s was driven largely by French commercial pressure and the financial strain of the 1864 loan crisis still looming on the horizon — this issue predates that collapse by just a few years, struck when the Husainid beys were threading a narrow path between Ottoman suzerainty and European creditor demands. The dual-authority attribution, referencing both Sultan Abdülmecid I in Istanbul and Muhammad II Bey in Tunis, reflects the careful legal fiction Tunisia maintained: nominally Ottoman, functionally autonomous.
KM#135 is among the smaller silver fractions of the reformed series, and surviving examples in collectible condition are genuinely scarce given the coin's modest silver content and heavy use in daily commerce.