No doubt many here have read Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novel Treasure Island at some time or another. In the book, when the group of Englishmen find the treasure, Jim Hawkins, a boy accompanying the treasure hunters relates: For my part, as I was not much use at carrying, I was kept busy all day in the cave packing the minted money into bread-bags. It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones's hoard for the diversity of coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I never had more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange Oriental pieces stamped with what looked like wisps of string or bits of spider's web... So, what was a sequin? A sequin was a generic name applied to gold trade coins made by several European states and the Ottoman Empire. Venice started in 1285 with it's coin called the ducat or zecchino. The Venetian ducat served as a trade coin all over Europe and into Asia. The Egyptian Mamluks began minting a similar gold coin in 1425. The Ottomans began minting similar coins sometime after 1453 in Constantinople (Istanbul) called the sultani. Some references apply the term "sequin" to a particular Turkish coin, sometimes to a whole class of coins. Re: ...strange Oriental pieces stamped with wisps of string or bits of spider's web I had to get one of these! Ottoman Empire Sultani of Süleyman The Magnificent (AD 1520-1566) Obverse: Arabic inscription Sultan Süleyman Shah son of Sultan Selim Shah, May his Victory be Glorious, Struck in Misr Year 926 Reverse: Arabic inscription Striker of the Glittering, Master of Might, Victory, and of Land and the Sea Size: 20mm, weight: 3.5gm Struck in Misr (Egypt) The coin does not have the religious statement found on many coins from the Islamic world. The AH date 926 is the Sultan's accession (coronation) year, the coin could be struck afterwards. Under Süleyman the Magnificient the Ottoman Empire reached the height of its power and prestige. He was fond of pomp and splendor and was a lavish patron of the arts and of literature. Sinan, the Ottoman architect who designed the great mosques of Istanbul, worked during Süleyman's time. Süleyman had succession problems. He had one son executed, after he died, and two sons fought over the throne. One fled to Persia and the other paid a ransom to get him back, then had him executed.
