Gold Coins of Turkey
Some of the Earliest Gold Coins Were Made in TurkeyThe world's first coins were Greek coins made in Lydia about 640 BC, but the area of Lydia is now in present day Turkey, so that the relationship between Turkey and gold coins dates back over 2,000 years.
A Variety of Denominations
With this long history, it is no surprise that Turkey has produced many different denominations of gold coins, which include Sultani, Serifi, Yarim, Cifte, Tek, Istanbul, Dort, Luk, Onluk, Altin, Mahbub, Piastres and Lire.A Neglected Series
Because of the use of the Arabic style Turkish inscriptions of most earlier Turkish coins, most western coin collectors ignore Turkish gold coins. Modern Turkish coins are not much easier to identify either. This means that any collectors of Turkish coins should be able to find many relatively cheap Turkish coins, which may include rare and potentially valuable items, provided he is prepared to do more research than the average collector.Turkish Gold Coins
As Turkish coins are not within our main areas of specialisation, any of our cataloguing of Turkish gold coins may be in error. It also means that most of our Turkish gold coins will be offered by type, and will be quite reasonably priced. We give brief specifications for some of the most recent and commonly encountered Turkish gold coins, followed by a stocklist of any Turkish gold coins we have for sale.Denominations
The names kurush and piastre are interchangeable. Some catalogues show denominations in kurush, others in piastres. They are both the same.Monnaies de Luxe Since 1899 Turkey has issued some monnaies de luxe. These were intended for presentation purposes or jewellery. They are issued at a slightly lower weight than their normal counterpart denominations, but the same alloy fineness, and of larger diameter but thinner, and from more ornate dies. We will denote these below by the abbreviation MDL.
Specifications
Technical specifications of the most frequently encountered Turkish gold coins.| Denomination | Diameter | Weight | Alloy | AGW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
500 Piastres / Kurush
|
34 | 39.0800 | 0.9166 | 1.0638 |
|
500 Piastres / Kurush MDL
|
44.5 | 7.2160 | 0.9166 | 0.2126 |
|
250 Piastres / Kurush
|
27 | 18.0400 | 0.9166 | 0.5319 |
|
250 Piastres / Kurush MDL
|
39.5 | 17.5400 | 0.9166 | 0.5172 |
| 22 | 7.2160 | 0.9166 | 0.2126 | |
|
100 Piastres / Kurush MDL
|
30 | 7.0160 | 0.9166 | 0.2069 |
| 17.8 | 3.6083 | 0.9166 | 0.1064 | |
|
50 Piastres / Kurush MDL
|
22 | 3.5080 | 0.9166 | 0.1034 |
|
25 Piastres / Kurush
|
14.6 | 1.8041 | 0.9166 | 0.0532 |
|
25 Piastres / Kurush MDL
|
17.7 | 1.8041 | 0.9166 | 0.0532 |
| 26.5 | 17.00 | 0.900 | 0.4900 | |
|
50,000 Lire
|
26.5 | 7.96 | ? | ? |
| 13.92 | 1.24 | 0.999 | 0.0398 | |
| 25 | 7.78 | 0.750 | 0.1876 |
Key
Denomination = Face ValueDiameter = Approximate Diameter in millimetres.
Weight = Weight in grams.
Alloy = Fineness of gold.
AGW = Actual fine gold weight in troy ounces.
MDL = Monnaie de Luxe
Piastres = Kurush
Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £9 per orderEU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail $10 per order
USA Insured Shipping $20 per order
Turkish Silver and Base Metal Coins
For silver and base metal coins of Turkey, please look at our original Chard Coins
website.
Coins Wanted We make an active market in almost all world coins, gold or otherwise, including Turkish gold coins. If you have any of these coins to sell, please contact us, or post them to us for appraisal and offer.
Obverse of Turkish 100 Piastres of Abdul Hamid II
Hejira Date 1327 = 1909 AD
Reverse of Turkish 100 Piastres of Abdul Hamid II
Hejira Date 1327 = 1909 AD
Obverse of 1965 50 Kurush
Reverse of 1965 250 Kurush
Obverse of 1965 250 Kurush
Reverse of 1965 250 Kurush
Obverse of 1973 500 Lire
Reverse of 1973 500 Lire
Kemal Ataturk on Obverse of 1968 100 Kurush Monnaie de Luxe
Reverse of 1968 100 Kurush Monnaie de Luxe
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E-mail: Contact Us The URL for our main page is: taxfreegold.co.uk
32 - 36 Harrowside, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY4 1RJ, England. Telephone (44) - (0) 1253 - 343081; Fax 408058;
E-mail: Contact Us The URL for our main page is: taxfreegold.co.uk