With the passing of the last heir to the throne Dündar Abdülkerim Osmanoğlu, at 90 in Damascus, the official line to the throne has ended, if the empire had been restored during his lifetime, he'd have the title of Sultan Ali II. He didn't have any children. Although his 89 year old brother Harun Osmanoğlu is expected to be the head of the dynasty, who also is childless (at least publicly). Here is a coin from Mehmed II The Conqueror, minted in the Constantinople mint, 1471 AD.
OTTOMAN EMPIRE Kostantiniye, (Istambul) Ottoman Empire Suleyman I (The Magnificent) (r. AD 1520- 1566) AV Sultani 20 mm x 3.36 grams Dated ( AH 926 or AD 1520) Obverse: Sultan Süleyman Shah bin Sultan Selim Shah, Azze nasruhu, dhuribe fi qustantiniyah , seneh (926)-(Sultan Süleyman Shah son of Sultan Selim Shah, May his Victory be Glorious struck in Constantinople Year (AH 926) ) Reverse:Reverse : Dharibun-Nadri sahibbul izzi vennasri filberri velbahr-(Striker of the Glittering, Master of Might Victory and of Land and the Sea.) Ref: Album -1317 Ottoman Turks Sultan Mahmed II 1451-1481 took Constantinople in 1453 Serez mint AR 1.2g
The end of an era. And since the Ottomans succeeded the Byzantines for suzerainty over Constantinople also the official end to the last vestige of the Roman Empire. Also, did you know the Ottomans created the first marching band in history? But who knows...Constantine XI may return to take the throne in Constantinople according to an old Greek legend...
Interesting news! Sic transit gloria mundi! Böylece dünyanın ihtişamı (according to Google translator). For reasons I cannot recall now, I photographed a pair of Ottoman Yuzluks (massive silver coins issued by Selim III from 1789-1807 A.D., Constantinople Mint) with some Faustina II sestertii. A pointless Ottoman-Ancient Roman combo - this thread is as good of an excuse as any I suppose...
Here's Mehmet's first issue from the Constantinople mint (865AH = 1460-61): I'm not sure why these early issues from Constantinople aren't more popular with Byzantine collectors!
Yeah I agree. I also highly recommend the miniseries "The Ottomans" on Netflix which depicts Mehmet's conquest of Constantinople and the heroic defense of the city by the Byzantines and Genoese.
Ottoman Empire Mahmud II AR Piastre Tunisia 1255 (1839 AD) https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces35845.html This big Ottoman silver coin was actually the first coin I ever won in a big auction. I sent in my bids by letter, and got this Piastre. It’s a pretty crude coin, but it’s nice to hold in hand. I’d like a Mehmet II coin, though. I imagine they will be more popular after the Netflix series.
That's really remarkable, @svessien. Has to remind me of the the silver (UK) pound of Charles I that I saw as a kid, at a local coin show, but at a booth tended by two Brits, one of whom was crazy. (...Well, to have come as far as we were, from much of anything anyone would know about, their mental health was more broadly suspect.) I'll never forget how he kept repeating the word, "Pound" --along with one off-color aside, in an unrelated context. It was the circumference of a small frisbee. Of course, in both contexts, you have to wonder what made gold so scarce that people would be minting these mad denominations in silver. ...In each one, the scarcity was obviously temporary. ...(New edit: ) Well, Wait! I was thinking (as in, Not) that your Ottoman piastre was more nearly contemporaneous to the earlier phase, c. mid-15th into the 16h centuries CE.
Only one of them? You were lucky. I realize it’s quite a modern coin for an ancient board, but no Ottoman coins qualify as «ancient», do they? Alegandrons Sultani is close, though. And if we set the limit at the fall of Constantinople, the OP coin just missed being ancient
Fascinating little piece of information. I did not realise that the line had continued for so long. So often, when Empires or Kingdoms fall, the line of succession is snuffed out completely - or at least publicly. Quoi? Two issues with this. Firstly, Ottomans were not Roman by any stretch of the imagination. They were invaders and conquerors of the remnants of the Roman Empire, regardless of what Mehmed II crowned himself. Secondly, the last vestige of the Roman Empire can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Athos
Around 31 grams - 45 mm. diameter. They are rather thin, and vary somewhat in size. As you can tell, they were crudely struck. Numista says they weigh between 31 and 32 grams. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces40517.html As for collecting these, they are quite common. You can put together a date run - 1-19 - just like a collection of US nickels. You'd better get big folders though!
No, @svessien, I have no trouble with the chronology of the issue --any more than with 17th-c. English hammered. It was more about how, between the two, each of them safely post-Medieval (and we're both seriously under the radar), I was hoping your piastres would be more nearly contemporaneous to the Stuart issue.
The Tughra of Suleiman II is on the obverse of this coin of the Ottoman Empire. It reads: "Shah Süleyman, son of Ibrahim Han, the Victorious".He was born 15th April 1642 at Constantinople and was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1687 to 1691. This coin was minted in Constantinople. Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman II (1687-1691), 1099 AH (AD 1688), 1 Copper Manghir, 19 mm, mint Constantinople Obv: Tughra Rev: mint, date, and in Persian script his name and titles, within a circle, surrounded by border Ref: KM# 87.2 (dots left of date)
Yuzluks aren't quite that thin - about 2 mm. You couldn't break one with your fingers, or even bend one (at least I can't!). Much thicker than those Sassanian drachms, which are, as they say in Monty Python, "wafer thin!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Creosote
But who is Rome? Afaik Constantine XI willed his title to the king of Spain, thus Felipe VI, the current monarch of Spain has the right to be called the ‘Roman emperor’ regardless of the Ottomans having captured Constantinople!