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Asper - Hadji Gerai Khan
| Issuer | Caffa, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1454-1466 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by the Mongolian tamgha of Hadji Gerai Khan, a stylised dynastic emblem rendered in relief, enclosed within a square frame composed of a beaded or pearl border. Arabic legends surround the central device in the field outside the square, bearing the Khan's royal titles. The overall composition reflects the Crimean Khanate's Islamic artistic tradition, adapted for this Genoese colonial coinage. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, characteristic of hammered silver production. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | (Translation: The Just Ruler, Hadji Gerai Khan) |
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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.