OTTOMAN COINS (c. late 13th-20th century)
From the time
the House of Osman, a frontier beylik of the Seljuk Sultanate, declared their
independence in the late 13th early 14th century and until the foundation of
the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Empire struck coins from gold, silver and
copper continuously for about six centuries. The Ottomans had minted and used
coins since the foundation of their state. However, gold coins were not minted
until the reign of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, when the Ottomans used the
Venetian gold ducat in trade. Beginning with the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror,
the Ottoman state began to issue gold coins, minted in Kostantiniyye
(Istanbul), the new capital of the empire. The old Venetian ducats were-
stamped with the inscription "Shah", and thus their commercial
validity continued. From the initial stage of Ottoman coinage, the iconoclastic
principle introduced by Umayyad Ruler Caliph Abd al-malik ibn Marwan to Islamic
coinage was observed. No figurative depictions were used on the obverse or the
reverse of Ottoman coins, which only featured inscriptions indicating issue
date, location of mint, prayer verses and the name and titles of the sultan.

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