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Asper - Hadji Gerai Khan
| Issuer | Caffa, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1454-1466 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field displays the Genoese castle device — a stylised fortified tower or castello — set within a square frame of beaded pearls, referencing the heraldic emblem of the Republic of Genoa. Latin uncial legends appear in the field surrounding the inner square, identifying the issuing city. The design reflects the dual Genoese-Tatar authority exercised over the trading colony of Caffa during the mid-fifteenth century. The flan edges are irregular, consistent with hand-struck production at the Kaffa mint. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Caffa's Genoese administration minted this asper during a period of acute political instability on the northern Black Sea coast, issuing coins bearing the name of the reigning Crimean Khan as a matter of practical necessity — acknowledgment that the city's commercial survival depended on maintaining workable relations with the Giray dynasty. Hadji Giray had expelled the last Golden Horde loyalists from Crimea and established the independent Crimean Khanate around 1449, making Caffa's tribute coinage as much a diplomatic instrument as a circulating currency.
The city fell to Ottoman forces under Gedik Ahmed Pasha in 1475, ending Genoese control entirely. Issues from this reign window are the last of the collaborative Caffa-Khan series.