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Mangir - Ahmed III
| Issuer | Ottoman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1703-1730 |
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| Currency | Kuruş (1688-1844) |
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| Obverse description | Crudely hammered copper flan bearing a multi-line Arabic legend in thuluth-influenced script occupying the entire field, reading 'Sultan Ahmed Khan.' The inscription is set within an irregular, somewhat granular border typical of provincial Ottoman copper coinage of the early eighteenth century. The lettering is deeply and boldly struck, though the flan is uneven and the overall impression shows characteristic irregularity of hand-struck mangir coinage. No decorative devices or figurative elements are present, the legend alone serving as the principal design element. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Crudely struck Arabic mint and authority legend filling the field of the irregular copper flan, indicating the place of issue as Baghdad. The inscription is rendered in a cursive Arabic script consistent with provincial Ottoman hammered coinage, enclosed within a dotted or granular border. The strike is bold but uneven, with typical weakness at the margins resulting from the hand-hammering technique employed at the Baghdad mint during this period. The reverse bears no additional decorative motifs, the mint formula alone constituting the entire design. |
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| Additional information |
Ahmed III came to power in 1703 following the Edirne Event, a janissary revolt that deposed his brother Mustafa II. His reign coincided with the Tulip Era — a period of Ottoman cultural flourishing and Western diplomatic engagement that ended abruptly with another janissary uprising in 1730, this time forcing Ahmed's own abdication. The mangır, a low-denomination copper piece, was the workhorse of everyday bazaar transactions throughout this period.
By Ahmed III's reign the mangır had been in slow decline for over a century, progressively debased and reduced in module as the empire struggled with chronic budget pressures following the failed siege of Vienna in 1683.