Dirhem - Ahmed I Aleppo, type 1

Ahmed I came to the throne in 1603 at roughly thirteen years old, immediately breaking Ottoman succession precedent by not executing his brothers — a policy shift that saved his sibling Mustafa but also introduced the later practice of confining princes to the kafes, or "cage." Aleppo was among the most commercially active mints in the empire at this period, serving the busy Levantine trade routes, and early Ahmed I issues from this mint show considerable variation in flan preparation consistent with high-volume, rapid production.