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Larin - Murad III
| Issuer | Ottoman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1574 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.96 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Reverse description | The reverse impression, also derived from the şahi coin dies, carries a partial Arabic legend distributed across several lines, of which only scattered letters are discernible on known specimens owing to the hairpin larin format. The readable text records the mint city of Baghdad and the AH date 982, accompanied by a pious formula invoking divine perpetuation of the sultan's reign and sultanate. The die style is consistent with Ottoman Baghdad mint issues of the late sixteenth century. |
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| Additional information |
The larin — a coiled wire coin unique to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean trade networks — was adopted by Ottoman mints in the sixteenth century specifically to compete with Portuguese commercial dominance in the region. Murad III ascended in 1574, the same year this piece was struck, inheriting an empire still digesting the administrative strains of Selim II's reign and the aftermath of Lepanto three years prior.
The format was dictated entirely by local merchant preference, not Ottoman convention. Gulf traders simply refused other coin forms.