Ottoman Empire AV 1/2 Zeri mahbub AH1183=1770 Islambul Mint Sultan Mustafa III 1757-74 Finest known example
Nice coin! I learned something new about these coins from this thread; some have the Sultan's regnal year on them on the reverse lower right. My two zeri mahbub coins were struck in Egypt and have no regnal years, apparently by design. Egypt was an Ottoman Eyalet (province) but was semi-independent under the control of Mamelukes. Ottoman Egypt Zeri Mahbub Sultan Mahmud I AH 1143 (AD 1731) Gold, 20mm, 2.61gm, KM-221 Ottoman Egypt Zeri Mahbub Sultan Mustafa III AH 1171 (AD 1758) Gold, 20mm, 2.33gm, KM-334
That is a real beauty, Panzerman. It reminds me of something I recently picked up on eBay - a whopping 27 grams of debased silver - 2 zolota minted in Constantinople c. 1782 Let me know if you wanna trade!
Thanks, Ottoman coinage is neat to collect. There are so many places where these coins where struck. Its really strange that under Mehmet II coins where really well made, later under Selim I/ Sulieman I the coins became crude.
As @panzerman points out, there are a slew of Ottoman mints. The Ottoman Empire lasted 600 years and covered a whole lot of territory at its peak, comprising Eastern Europe to Central Asia and then North Africa. That's a whole lot of modern countries to pick from.
