Catalog
Zeri Mahbub - Abdulhamid I
| Issuer | Tripoli, Regency of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1773-1777 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.6 g |
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| Obverse description | The elaborate tughra of Sultan Abdulhamid I occupies the central field, rendered in the intricate calligraphic style characteristic of late 18th-century Ottoman coinage. Below the tughra, the mint name Tripoli West (Tarabulus Gharb) and the AH date 1187 are inscribed in Arabic script. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border running along the coin's periphery. The gold flan exhibits the slightly irregular shape typical of hammered Ottoman provincial coinage of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | عبد الحميد في ضرب طرابلس غرب ١١٨٧ (Translation: Abdulhamid Struck in Tripoli West 1187) |
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| Additional information |
The Zeri Mahbub — literally "beloved gold piece" — was a Ottoman-derived fractional gold denomination struck across several North African regencies during the 18th century. Tripoli's issues from this reign circulated within a port economy heavily dependent on corsair revenues and trans-Saharan trade, functioning as hard currency in transactions that the copper and silver coinage could not reliably support. The regency under its Karamanli governors operated with considerable autonomy from Istanbul, though coins were struck in the sultan's name as a matter of political protocol rather than financial oversight.
The Pere references distinguish obverse die variants within this type.