In 1975, Ariel Berman published a short article concerning the earliest
Ottoman coinage of Egypt, based on a few specimens he had been able to
purchase locally in Jerusalem and one or two others seen in private
collections1. Coinage from this brief period of early Ottoman rule in Egypt had
received little notice from numismatists and historians in the past and
neither has much further study been done up to the present day. Berman is
the first person of whom I am aware who actually looked at the coins in
comparison with textual sources concerning conditions in the first decade
after the Ottoman conquest

Nicol, Norman D.

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  NORMAN D. NICOL∗ THE POST - OTTOMAN CONQUEST COINAGE OF EGYPT In 1975, Ariel Berman published a short article concerning the earliest Ottoman coinage of Egypt, based on a few specimens he had been able to purchase locally in Jerusalem and one or two others seen in private collections1. Coinage from this brief period of early Ottoman rule in Egypt had received little notice from numismatists and historians in the past and neither has much further study been done up to the present day. Berman is the first person of whom I am aware who actually looked at the coins in comparison with textual sources concerning conditions in the first decade after the Ottoman conquest.  Prior to the coming of Sultan Selim I to Egypt, the Mamlūk bureaucracy administered a coinage consisting of gold sulṭānīs, silver half dirhams and copper fulūs. The gold coins weighed about 3.2-3.4 grams, the half-dirhams ranged in weight from about 1 to 1.2 grams, whereas the copper coins by the early 10th/16th century were not of any set weight, but rather are known in a wide range of weights.  The Ottoman advance was rapid and at the battle of Marj Dābiq in Syria on 25 Rajab 922/24 August 1516, they handed defeat to the Mamlūks. Sultan Qānṣūh al-Ghūrī died on the battlefield and was succeeded by al-Ashraf Ṭūmānbāy. Selim continued his advance into Egypt and again defeated the Mamlūk forces at Raydānīya on 29 Dhū al-Ḥijja/23 January 1517. Ṭūmānbāy                                                                   ∗ Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania. 1 ARIEL BERMAN, The Beginning of Ottoman Coinage in Egypt, «The Numismatic Circular», April 1975, pp. 150-152.  NORMAN D. NICOL   221was captured and hung from one of the city gates. The five-month rule of this last Mamlūk sultan, with the ensuing chaos and dread of the Ottoman advance, allowed little time or resources to be put into the coinage and there is little wonder that Ṭūmānbāy’s issues are hardly known.  I. Mamlūk, Ṭūmānbāy, gold ashrafī, al-Qāhira 922 H. SICA6:1583 (20 mm, 3.24 g)2, Balog 9043. This coin from the Ashmoelan collection was illustrated by Balog as his number 904a on Plate 41. Balog recorded only nine specimens and two were in his own collection: ANS 1956.1131.14 (18 mm, 3.35 g); Balog (20 mm, 3.30 g; 17 mm, 3.20 g); NLC5 3120 (19 mm, 3.39 g), 3121 (14 mm, 3.38 g, mint and date missing); Lavoix6 1141 (18 mm, 3.25 g). Balog knew of no silver or copper coinage for this ruler (ill. no. 1). All lines on both sides are divided by cables flowing to the left.  السلطان االشرف امللك باى طومان النصر ابو نصره عز بالقاهرة اهللا ا ال اله ال  اهللا رسول حممد٩٢٢  The earliest Ottoman gold coinage dates from late in the reign of Mehmed II, the sulṭānī having been struck in the Istanbul (Ḳusṭanṭīniyya) mint bearing the years 882, 883 and 885 AH. Mehmed’s successor, Bayezid II issued coins struck in both Ḳusṭanṭīniyya and Serez, but only dated with his accessional year of 886 AH. Selim I had gold struck in numerous mints, including Miṣr (Cairo) after the conquest of Egypt, which brought the Ottoman régime abundant supplies of the metal. The Egyptian emissions were produced in two                                                                   2 NORMAN D. NICOL, Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean, vol. 6 – The Egyptian Dynasties, Oxford, The Ashmoelan Museum, 2007. 3 PAUL BALOG, The Coinage of the Mamlūk Sultans of Egypt and Syria, New York, American Numismatic Society, 1964, and ID., The Coinage of the Mamlūks: Additions and Corrections, «American Numismatic Society Museum Notes» 16 (1970), pp. 113-171. 4 Unpublished specimen in the collection of the American Numismatic Society, New York. 5 NORMAN D. NICOL-RAAFAT EL-NABARAWY-JERE L. BACHRACH, Catalog of the Islamic Coins, Glass Weights, Dies and Medals in the Egyptian National Library, Cairo, Malibu, Undena Publications, 1982. 6 HENRI LAVOIX, Catalogue des monnaies musulmanes de la Bibliothèque nationale, III. Égypte et Syrie, Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1896. THE POST-OTTOMAN CONQUEST COINAGE OF EGYPT   222 parallel series, one modeled in the style of the former Mamlūk dinars and the other in that of other Ottoman mints7.  II. Ottoman, Selim I, gold, sulṭānī, Miṣr 923 H. NLC 3479 (19 mm, 3.30 g) (ill. no. 2). The lines of text on the obverse are divided by single lines, whereas those on the reverse are divided by cables flowing to the left. There is a six-pointed star in the ن of خان on the obverse and a Seal of Solomon in the middle line of the reverse.   خان سليم سلطان ]ه[نصر عز خان يدز]يبا ابن[ ضرب ]۹[ ۲۳مبصر ريةنض]لا ضارب[ النصر و العز ب]حصا[ البحر و الرب]يف[  III. Ottoman, Selim I, gold ṣultānī, Miṣr 924 H. NLC 3482 (19 mm, 3.35 g) (ill. no. 3). The upper line on the obverse is divided from the the lower inscriptions by a line having a small knot in the middle. The other ornaments on both sides are found on the previous coin. The reverse inscriptions are divided by cables flowing to the left.   ]خان سليم سلطان[ ]ه[نصر عز خان بايزيد ]ابن[ ۹۲۴ب مبصر ضر ]ريةض[لنا ضارب ]نصر[لا و العز ب]حصا[ ]ر[لبحا و ]الرب يف[  IV. Ottoman, Selim I, gold ṣulṭānī, Miṣr 924 H. NLC 3483 (20 mm, 3.34 g) (ill. no. 4). The upper line on the obverse is divided from the lower inscriptions by a single line. Ornaments and cables are as found on the previous two coins.  خان سليم سلطان نصره عز خان يزيد]با[ ۹۲۴ سنة مبصر ضرب ]ية[النضر  ضارب النصر و العز صاحبš¯ البحر و الرب                                                                    7 İBRAHİM AND CEVRİYE ARTUK, İstanbul Arkeolji Müzeleri Teşhirdeki İslāmi Sikkeler Kataloğu, vol. 2, Istanbul, Milli Eğitim Basımevi, 1974, pp. 503-504. NORMAN D. NICOL   223V. Ottoman, Selim I, gold ṣulṭānī, Miṣr 924 H. (Peus 392:4788, 3.36 g)8 (ill. no. 5). The upper line on the obverse is divided from the lower inscriptions by a line having a small knot in the middle shaped like an inverted heart. The lower line on the reverse is divided from the upper inscriptions by a line with a small knot in the middle, which is the extension of the tail of the ي in يف at the end of the second line.   خان سليم نطا]سل[ نصره عز خان يزيد]با ابن[ ۹۲۴ سنة ب] مبصر  ضر[  النضرية  رب]ضا[ ¯š النصر و العز صاحب البحر و الربThere is no apparent difference between the two series. Both are about the same size and the weights range mostly between 3.3 and 3.4 grams. It is possible that two groups of die engravers were working side by side in the Cairo mint. Some of them were probably continuing in that capacity from the former Mamlūk administration, while others were brought by the Ottoman conqueror from either Istanbul or one of the provincial mints. The Mamlūk style sulṭānī was struck only in 923 and 924 H, whereas the Ottoman style coins were issued under Selim I in each year after the conquest (923-926 H)9.  As stated above, Balog was not aware of any existing silver or copper coins issued under Ṭūmānbāy’s short tenure. A number of years ago, the owner of a hoard of silver coins made it available to me for study with the proviso that I not publish it for some time. That constraint has lapsed and I am now able to include some of the data from the hoard in the present work. The hoard which was found in the Yemen, consisted of 430 silver coins dating from the end of the Mamlūk sultanate and the beginnings of Ottoman rule in Egypt and Syria. The coins were mostly the product of the Cairo and Damascus mints, with one specimen from Aleppo. Among the Mamlūk issues were four coins of al-Ashraf Ṭūmānbāy struck in Cairo (see hoard listed below, numbers 36-39).  The earliest Egyptian silver issues of Selim I, while scarce, are known in some small numbers. Berman listed thirteen specimens in the above-mentioned article, while Ȫlçer published a further nine from various sources in his 1989 catalog of Selim’s coinage. Rather than introduce the Ottoman akçe, which weighed about 0.7 grams and used in most other parts of the                                                                   8 Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger (Frankfurt am Main), Auction 392, 4 May 2007, Lot 4788. 9 A fairly reasonable summary of the transitional coinage is treated by AḤMAD AL-SAYYID AL-ṢĀWĀ, Nuqūd Miṣr al-‘Uthmānīya, Cairo, Markaz al-Ḥaḍāra al-‘Arabīya, 2001, pp. 22-26. THE POST-OTTOMAN CONQUEST COINAGE OF EGYPT   224 empire, Selim continued the Mamlūk dirham, although at a reduced weight of about 0.9-0.95 grams, to the end of his reign. This caused no small amount of problems for the populace when the it came time for the Ottoman provincial government to collect taxes, as shall be discussed below (see hoard, numbers 43-51).  The problem of the taxes is ably detailed by Stanford Shaw in his book on the administration of Egypt under the Ottomans10. Prior to the Ottoman conquest, taxes paid in coin were assessed at four or five dirhams per feddān, depending on a given piece of land’s fertility. The silver half dirhams were reckoned as 25 to the gold ashrafī. The lower weight of the silver maydin issued under Selim I was a decrease of about 20 percent and effectively raised the silver to gold coin ratio to 30 maydins to one sulṭānī. Beginning with the reign of Suleymān I in 926 H., new silver paras were issued weighing only about 0.7 grams with the same value as the contemporary akçes struck in the rest of the empire. The ratio eventually rose to 50 of the old half dirhams to the sulṭānī or 90 of the new paras. The crux of the problem was one of bureaucratic manipulation: the taxes were levied on the basis of the new paras, but were usually paid in the older Mamlūk half dirhams as they were much more common than the new coins. The tax collectors demanded payment at the official rate of one Mamlūk half dirham for each two and a quarter of paras tax in the newly issued paras. The tax burden became so onerous that many people fled from the countryside to the cities and large areas of land fell out of cultivation. Trade and commerce were threatened and the uprising was not abated until a new governor arrived in 931 H who abolished the newer taxes and reverted to the basic tax of four or five paras per feddān.                                                                          10 STANFORD J. SHAW, The Financial and Administrative Organization and Development of Ottoman Egypt, 1517-1798, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1962. The political and economic events of the period were chronicled by IBN IYĀS, MUḤAMMAD B. AḤMAD, Badā’i‘ al-zuhūr fī waqā’i‘ al-duhūr/Die Chronik des Ibn Ijās, A.H. 922-928/A.D. 1516-1522, vol. 5, part 5, ed. Muḥammad Muṣṭafā 2nd, ed., Cairo and Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner, 1380/1961, esp. pp. 301, 402, 407, 408, 492. See also SUBHI Y. LABIB, Handelsgeschichte Ägyptens im Spätmittelalter (1171-1571), Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner, 1965, esp. pp. 465-469.  NORMAN D. NICOL   225 RULER  GOLD COINAGE SILVER COINAGE Late Mamlūk  Qanṣūh al-Ghūrī (906-922 AH)  Ṭūmāmbāy (922 AH) 1 ashrafī     7 specimens average weight 3.327 g = 25 half dirhams  10 specimens average weight 1.096 g  7 specimens average weight 0.967 g Early Ottoman Egypt  Selim I (918-926 AH) 1 sulṭānī  Mamlūk style (923-24 AH) 7 specimens average weight 3.327 g  Ottoman style (923-926 AH) 21 specimens average weight 3.336 g = 30 maydins   Ottoman style (923-26 AH) 31 specimens average weight 0.095 g   The above table summarizes the several exchange rates between gold and silver coinage from the Mamlūk into the early Ottoman period in Egypt.  THE LATE MAMLŪK-OTTOMAN SILVER HOARD  The hoard of 430 small silver coins discovered in the Yemen provides some insight into the state of currency circulating in the recently conquered provinces of Egypt and Syria during the first years of Ottoman rule.  Mamlūk: al-Ashraf Qanṣūh al-Ghūrī (906-922 AH) 1. (al-Qāhira) (9)12, type as Balog 887, but with (۹) ۱۲ bottom reverse, 15mm, 1.035 g; 2. (al-Qāhira) (9)14, type as Balog 887, but with (۹)۱۴ bottom reverse, 15 mm, 1.104 g; 14 mm, 1.115 g; 3. (al-Qāhira) 915, type as Balog 887, but with ۹۱١B bottom reverse, 16 mm, 1.057 g; 13.5 mm, 1.14 g; 4. (al-Qāhira) 916, type as Balog 887, but with ۹۱٦ bottom reverse, 14 mm, 1.138 g; 5. (al-Qāhira) 917, type as Balog 887, but with ۹۱۷ bottom reverse, 16mm, 1.092 g; 6. (al-Qāhira) 919, type as Balog 887, but with ۹۱۹ bottom reverse, 16 mm, 1.104 g; THE POST-OTTOMAN CONQUEST COINAGE OF EGYPT   226 7. (al-Qāhira) 91x, type as Balog 887, but with ۹۱ – bottom reverse, 15 mm, 1.102 g; 8. al-Qāhira, date illegible or off flan, type Balog 887, 8 specimens, 14-17 mm, average weight 1.091 g; 9. (al-Qāhira), date illegible or off flan, type Balog 887, 34 specimens, 13-18 mm, average weight of ten, 1.001 g; 10. (al-Qāhira?), 913, similar to Balog 887, but upper and lower dividers on both sides are straight lines, with date ۹۱۳, 15mm, 0.929 g (ill. no. 6); 11. al-Qāhira, date illegible, but as previous, 16 mm, 0.943 g; 12. (al-Qāhira?), 913, similar to Balog 887, but all dividers on both sides are straight lines, with date ۹۱۳, thick flan, 12 mm, 1.128 g; 13. (al-Qāhira?), date illegible or off flan, as previous, one with thin, oblong flan, 9.5x16.5mm, 0.87g; two round and thick flan, 12.5mm, 1.073g; 12.5mm, 0.962g; 14. al-Qāhira, 919, similar to Balog 887, but only reverse has straight line dividers, with date ۹۱۹, 16.5mm, 1.155g (ill. no. 7); 15. (al-Qāhira), date off flan, but as previous, 13mm, 0.944g; 16. (al-Qāhira?), date off flan, similar to Balog 887, but all dividers on both sides are rows of pellets, 14 mm, 1.157 g; 17. (al-Qāhira), (91)7, similar to Balog 887, but central divider on both sides is a line of pellets between two straight lines, with date (۹۱)۷ bottom reverse, 15 mm, 0.974 g; 18. (al-Qāhira), 919, as previous, but date ۹۱۹ at bottom reverse, 15mm, 0.965 g (ill. no. 8); 19. (al-Qāhira), 919 (?), as previous, but date is questionable, 16 mm, 0.964g; 16.5 mm, 1.087 g; 20. al-Qāhira, date illegible or off flan, but as no. 17, ten specimens, 14-16.5 mm, average weight 0.961 g (ill. no. 9);  21. (al-Qāhira), date illegible or off flan, as no. 17, 140 specimens, 12-17.5 mm, average weight of ten, 0.985 g; 22. al-Qāhira, date illegible or off flan, as Balog 888, but with mintname visible, 13 mm, 1.158 g; 13.5 mm, 1.12 g; 13.5 mm, 1.123 g; 23. (al-Qāhira), date illegible or off flan, Balog 888, seven specimens, 12.5-14 mm, average weight 1.13 g; 24. Without visible mint or date, obverse as Balog 889, reverse similar to Balog 887, but straight line dividers, mostly oblong flans, nine specimens, 14-16 mm, average weight 0.98 g (ill. no. 10); NORMAN D. NICOL   22725. (Dimashq?), no date visible, obverse as Balog 889, reverse similar to Balog 887, but heart knot in cable divider above و of رسول , mostly oblong flans, ten specimens, 15.5-16 mm, average weight 0.981 g (ill. no. 11); 26. Dimashq, 916, obverse similar to Balog 887, but straight line dividers, reverse: ۹بدمشق / سنة /١٦ and margin as Balog 889, all oblong flans, four specimens, 15-17 mm, average weight 0.925 g; 27. Dimashq, 918, as no. 26, but with ۹١٨ on reverse, all oblong flans, 25 specimens, 14-17 mm, average weight 0.982 g (ill. no. 12) 28. Dimashq, 919, as previous but with ۹١۹ on reverse, all oblong flans, 11 specimens, 15.5-16.5 mm, average weight 0.915 g; 29. Dimashq, 91x, as previous, but with ۹١– on reverse, all oblong flans, four specimens, 15-18 mm, average weight 1.008 g; 30. Dimashq, 921, as no. 26 but with ١٢٩ (sic) on reverse, all oblong flans, three specimens, 15 mm, 0.96g; 15 mm, 0.959 g; 17 mm, 0.928 g (ill. no. 13); 31. Dimashq, date illegible or off flan, as no. 26, all oblong flans, 14 specimens, 15-17 mm, average weight 0.949 g; 32. Dimashq, without date, Balog 889, 62 specimens, all oblong flans, one holed, 14-17 mm, average weight of ten, 1.109 g; 33. Dimashq, without date, Balog 890, 11 specimens, all oblong flans, one holed, 15-17 mm, average weight of ten, 1.197 g; 34. No mint or date visible, Balog 892, all round flans, 17 specimens, 11-15 mm, average weight 1.18 g; 35. No mint or date visible, Balog 892A, somewhat oblong flan, 16 mm, 1.151 g.  Mamlūk: al-Ashraf Ṭūmābāy (922 AH) 36. al-Qāhira, (922), 16mm, 0.99g (ill. no. 14) (cables to left)  طو ابو النصر(cables to left)  ]ەصر[ن عز بالقاهرة(cables to left)  ]اهللا[اال اله ال ـــــــ اهللا رسول حممد37. (al-Qāhira), 922, 14.5mm, 0.953g (ill. no. 15)  االشرف مللك]ا[(cables to left)  اهللا اال اله ال ـــــــTHE POST-OTTOMAN CONQUEST COINAGE OF EGYPT   228  طو بو]ا[ نصر]لا[ ـــــ ]نصره[عز ]له[لا رسول حممد(cables to left) ٩٢٢    38.  (al-Qāhira), 9 (22), 17 mm, 0.935 g   ]ن[سلطا]لا[ ـــــــ االشرف امللك(cables to left)  …مطو بو]ا[ نصر]لا[(cables to left)  ]اهللا[ اال اله] ال[ ـــــــ ]له[لا رسول]حممد[(cables to left) ––٩  39. (al-Qāhira, 922), 15 mm, 0.929 g; 16 mm, 1.031 g; 15.5 mm, 0.98 g. Similar to previous but mint and date completely off flan.  Ottoman: Selim I (918-926 AH) 40. Dimashq, 923, Ölçer11 9400, 15.5 mm, 0.915 g; 41. Dimashq, (923?), type Ölçer 9400, 15.5 mm, 0.922 g; 42. Ḥalab, 9(22), cf. Ölçer 9470, 16 mm, 0.867 g; 43. Miṣr, date off flan, Ölçer 9641, six specimens, 13-14.5 mm, average weight 0.885 g; 44. (Miṣr, 923), as Ölçer 9644, 14 mm, 0.90 g; 45. (Miṣr, 923), similar to Ölçer 9645, 14.5 mm, 0.933 g; 46. Miṣr, 923, Ölçer 9647, ten specimens, 14-17.5 mm, average weight 0.914 g (ill. no. 16); 47. (Miṣr, 923), as Ölçer 9647, 14 mm, 0.861 g; 48. “Miṣr, 923”, silver-washed copper, contemporary counterfeit, 14 mm, 0.739 g; 49. (Miṣr), 924, Ölçer 9649, 15 mm, 0.968g; 50. (Miṣr), 924, as previous, but cable to left across lower obverse, 15.5 mm, 0.89 g; 15.5 mm, 0.888 g (ill. no. 17);                                                                   11 CÜNEYT ÖLÇER, Sultan Yavuz Selim Şah bin Bayazıd Han Dönemi Osmanlı Sikkeleri 918-926 AH/1512-1520 AD, İstanbul, Yenilik Basımevi, 1989. NORMAN D. NICOL   22951. (Miṣr), date off flan or illegible, similar to Ölçer 9647, but cable divider across lower obverse, 14 mm, 0.844 g; 14 mm, 1.118 g; 52. Unidentifiable, either Mamlūk or Ottoman silver coin, 12.5mm, 1.13 g.    The following table summarizes the contents of the hoard based on the issuing authority and mint.   DYNASTY  RULER  CAIRO  DAMASCUS  ALEPPO  MINT? Mamlūk Qanṣūh al-Ghūrī (906-922 AH) 233 144 0 18  Ṭūmānbāy (922 AH) 6 0 0 0 Ottoman Selim I (918-926 AH) 25 2 1 1  THE POST-OTTOMAN CONQUEST COINAGE OF EGYPT   230   

The Post-Ottoman Conquest Coinage of Egypt

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The Post-Ottoman Conquest Coinage of Egypt

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