Catalog
Akce - Murad III Damascus
| Issuer | Ottoman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1575 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Akçe (1516-1687) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field bearing the tughra or royal cipher of Sultan Murad III rendered in stylized Arabic calligraphy, executed in the hammered technique characteristic of Ottoman akçe coinage. The inscription is densely arranged within the irregular flan, with characteristic interlocking letterforms typical of late sixteenth-century Ottoman mint production. The field shows natural die wear and surface irregularities consistent with hand-struck silver coinage of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | مراد |
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| Additional information |
Murad III's accession in 1574 triggered an immediate recoinage across Ottoman mints, Damascus among them. The akçe by this point was in long-term structural decline — decades of debasement had reduced it to a fraction of its earlier silver content, and the 1580s would bring the currency crisis that effectively ended the akçe's role as the empire's primary transactional coin. This piece sits near the edge of that collapse.