Various Islamic Silver Coins

I recently picked up 167 holed Islamic coins (apparently Ottoman / Persian) & am trying to teach myself a bit about the series by ID'ing as many as possible. What's the best place to start with identifying a large group like this?

Here are a few overall pics:

 

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Krause world coin catalogs.

 

I started by sorting them by size & trying to pair up a few that look like the same denomination.

Here's the first I'm taking a stab at (#8) - it's a 15mm coin, and looks like a 1 para from Osman III. However, the last numeral of the date looks like a 3 (kind of a backwards 7 with 2 humps). Since those were only minted in 1168, would the 3 be a reign year or am I totally off base here?
http://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces57405.html

Arabic numbers guide:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O2vZo5CMDZE/T1upyl-dvoI/AAAAAAAAAGA/-IjIFW3c-uo/s1600/arabic-numbers.jpg

 

I don't have much need for Krause catalogs before 1900 with the coins I usually collect, and don't think the local library has the 15th-18th century 'phonebooks'.

I was really asking - what should I try to use as primary identifiers? Are the toughra's distinct from ruler to ruler, or is there a trick to recognizing the arabic mint names?

 

You need a book by Steve Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins. Its the standard for these. Also usable would be Michael Michiners' book, The World of Islam, but its older and much more expensive.

 

Here's another 15mm with a better reverse (but well worn obverse): (#1):

 

This 14mm coin was in the group but looks more European (with both a representation of a human holding a cross & a heraldic shield): (#2)

 

(#3) 16mm coin with the numerals (date?) 11^V (which, if I'm reading it right is AH1187 = 1773AD)

 

(#4): 15mm, with sharper, clear details:

 

(#5): 15mm & much like #4 but with a different mint mark (?) interrupted by the holing:

 

(#6): 16mm with some muddled details:

 

(#7): 15mm, much like #4 & #5:

 

#4, 5 & 7 appear to be Turkish paras?
http://www.pierre-marteau.com/currency/coins/turk.html

 

#2 - I'd give a tentative ID of Hungarian, 1619 1 Denar. What do you think?
http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/europe.html

 

Hmm. Haven't had any luck finding those at local libraries or at a price I'm looking to spend. Any other reference recommendations?

 

1 1203/6 Islambol. Para.
3 1187 Misr. Para.
4 1115/Be(II) Constantinople Para or Akce(<.25gram).
5 1115/Mim Re?(XV) Constantinople Para or Akce(<.25gram).
6 1115/Ha?(III) Constantinople Para or Akce(<.25gram).
7 1206/6? Islambol. Para.
8 1143/Num(XVII) Constantinople. Para.

 

May I ask how you determined those dates and mintmarks? I'm hoping to learn from these 8 how to identify the rest.

 

On the first coin - I see the reign year 6 on the back (an Arabic 5 + 1). And is the Islambul mint mark the one that starts with what looks like a striking snake?

 

I found an excellent online resource that shows various Ottoman mint marks:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=...940881824477.000001125294a313c8783&dg=feature

Sheesh - 115 mints?!

 

The mint name is located below the long horizontal line(striking snake) and above the date.

Three mints will cover the majority of these coins:
Islambol and Constantinople----Turkey
Misr----Egypt

Constantinople is easy to identify and the most common, it looks like two lower case letter b in the middle of a squiggly line.

Misr is a line with a loop in it. http://www.vcoins.com/backoffice/upload/product_image/54/W/6/Wai4n3DYDd7CR8LweTS92jB7aM4566.jpg

Islambol--Hard to describe...http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mLiOicz5tqF5zejjKaeB5pg.jpg

Dates: Most of these used ascencion dating, so there aren't many possibilities. These dates should cover most.
1099
1102
1106
1115
1143
1168
1171
1187
1203
1222
1223

Regnal year is a numeral at the top of the date side, or is written as a word immediately left of the date.