Murad III's reign saw one of the Ottoman Empire's earliest and most disruptive currency crises. The 1580s brought a flood of debased European silver — particularly Spanish reales — into Levantine trade networks, forcing the Porte to repeatedly devalue the akçe. Copper manghirs absorbed much of the small-change demand that silver could no longer reliably serve, driving production volumes that have left these pieces surprisingly accessible today despite their age.
Pere #493 places this squarely in the mid-993 AH emissions. Many survivors show significant flan irregularity, a persistent feature of Ottoman copper production at this period rather than evidence of unusual wear.
Murad III's reign saw one of the Ottoman Empire's earliest and most disruptive currency crises. The 1580s brought a flood of debased European silver — particularly Spanish reales — into Levantine trade networks, forcing the Porte to repeatedly devalue the akçe. Copper manghirs absorbed much of the small-change demand that silver could no longer reliably serve, driving production volumes that have left these pieces surprisingly accessible today despite their age.
Pere #493 places this squarely in the mid-993 AH emissions. Many survivors show significant flan irregularity, a persistent feature of Ottoman copper production at this period rather than evidence of unusual wear.