50 Lira Balikesir Clock Tower

Part of the Turkish mint's long-running provincial monuments series, this issue commemorates the clock tower in Balıkesir, built in 1902 during the late Ottoman period when municipal clock towers were being erected across Anatolia as symbols of modernization aligned with Tanzimat-era reforms. Dozens of such towers were commissioned in provincial capitals between roughly 1880 and 1910, many funded locally rather than from Istanbul.

The 15.55g weight places it squarely in the half-troy-ounce format favored by the Darphane for this series throughout the 2000s and 2010s.