2019-03-20 Wed

The 27th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdul Hamid I was born today on 20th March 1725 in Constantinople.In1774 he became the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam by succeeding his brother Mustafa III and ruled till 1789.

He tried to strengthen Ottoman rule over Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. During the reign, he issued gold and billon coins. Gold coins were known as Altin and Zeri Mahbub while billon coins were struck in the denomination of Para, Zolota, and Piastre.

Shown above is a gold Zer-i-Mahbub issued during his reign from Islambul mint in 1187 AH. The obverse of a coin shows the legend Toughra calligraphy, 'Han Abdul Hamid bin Ahmad al-Muzaffer Da'ima' and ‘Zarb Fi Islambul 1187’ depicted below. The reverse of the coin is inscribed with ‘Sultan al Barrain wa Khaqan al Bahrain; al-Sultan ibn al-Sultan’. The coin has the number 1 over the letter "Noon" in the word ibn on the reverse.

Image Source: Google Images