Mark Twain's Turkish Penny and the Gold Napoleon

WillieBoyd2

The United States plans to issue commemorative coins in 2016 to honor writer Mark Twain.

The coins planned are a silver dollar and a five-dollar gold coin.

United States (US) Mint photographs:

http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/?action=photo#MarkTwain



In 1867 Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) joined a ship excursion to Europe and the Middle East and published a

very popular book about his travels, The Innocents Abroad, in 1869.

He made several trips to Europe and published another travel book, A Tramp Abroad, in 1880.



In A Tramp Abroad, he writes about an incident which occurred during his 1867 trip when he

accidently gave a blind beggar a gold coin instead of a copper coin and his attempts to retrieve the gold coin.

The episode with the showman reminds me of a dark chapter in my history. I once robbed an aged and blind beggar-woman of four dollars—in a church. It happened this way. When I was out with the Innocents Abroad, the ship stopped in the Russian port of Odessa and I went ashore, with others, to view the town. I got separated from the rest, and wandered about alone, until late in the afternoon, when I entered a Greek church to see what it was like. When I was ready to leave, I observed two wrinkled old women standing stiffly upright against the inner wall, near the door, with their brown palms open to receive alms. I contributed to the nearer one, and passed out.



I had gone fifty yards, perhaps, when it occurred to me that I must remain ashore all night, as I had heard that the ship's business would carry her away at four o'clock and keep her away until morning. It was a little after four now. I had come ashore with only two pieces of money, both about the same size, but differing largely in value — one was a French gold piece worth four dollars, the other a Turkish coin worth two cents and a half. With a sudden and horrified misgiving, I put my hand in my pocket, now, and sure enough, I fetched out that Turkish penny!

The "French gold piece worth four dollars" had to be a French 20 Franc coin, commonly called a "Napoleon",

as it had a portrait of the French king Napoleon III on it.

It was 21mm in diameter and weighed around 6.40gm.

Napoleons circulated widely as trade coins in the Middle East at the time.





France gold 20 Francs 1863 "Napoleon" 21mm



The "Turkish penny", "Turkish coin worth two cents and a half", "both about the same size", is harder to identify.



Turkey, or the Ottoman Empire then, had a monetary system based on the Piastre or Qirsh which was worth

around US five cents. A Piastre was divided into 40 Paras.



The Innocents Abroad mentions the worth of a Piastre in this description of a guide:

...he called for remuneration -- said he hoped the gentlemen would give him a trifle in the way of a few piastres (equivalent to a few five cent pieces).

A Turkish coin worth 2-1/2 cents would be a 20 Para coin worth one-half of a Piastre.

Turkey made two types of 20 Para coin then, a very small silver coin (14mm) and a large copper coin (32mm).

Neither coin would be close in size to the 21mm French gold coin.





Turkey silver 20 Para AH 1277 Abdul Aziz regnal year 2 (1862) 14mm

This coin is smaller than the US three-cent coin.





Turkey copper 20 Para AH 1277 Abdul Aziz regnal year 4 (1864) 32mm

This coin is the size of a British Penny and close in size to a US Large Cent.



Turkey did make a 23mm copper 5 Para coin which was close in size to the 21mm Napoleon and was worth

around one-half of a US cent.





Turkey copper 5 Para AH 1277 Abdul Aziz regnal year 4 (1864) 23mm



Could Mark Twain's recollection of the "Turkish penny" have been a 5 Para coin?

Zohar

Excellent post. The Para pieces are always attractive to look at and conditionally scarce.