5 Qirsh - Abdulaziz

The Khedivate of Egypt occupied an odd constitutional position — nominally an Ottoman vassal, practically an autonomous state with its own coinage, army, and foreign debt. Abdulaziz was sultan in Constantinople throughout this period, so his name appeared on Egyptian coins by imperial convention rather than any meaningful administrative authority over the Nile valley. Real power ran through Cairo, and increasingly through the European creditors financing the Suez Canal.

KM#254 spans nearly a decade of issues with documented variations in the tughra's engraving across dies.