Any idea what this is?
ajaan
Posts: 17,868 ✭✭✭✭✭
A little smaller than US cent.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
0
ajaan
Posts: 17,868 ✭✭✭✭✭
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
Comments
Yes.
It is a copper para from Ottoman-controlled Libya. The mint of Tripoli (Tarabalus Gharb, or Tripoli-of-the-West) was notorious for being somewhat sloppy in writing the mint-name, and for having designs that differed significantly from Ottoman Imperial standards, given that Ottoman control over Libya was sporadic and tenuous.
Here's a very similar coin on zeno.ru: https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=70460
And another: https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=362792
These coins are only known from two dates, 1223//25 and 1223//26, corresponding to roughly AD 1832. Here's the NGC database page for the main variety of the type: https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/libya-tripoli-para-km-89-1223-25-1223-62-cuid-1140709-duid-1445027
1832 was a time of turmoil in Libya, with the Ottomans reasserting control over their wayward province and deposing the pirate-king Karamanli dynasty; the "shores of Tripoli" mentioned in the US Marine Corps anthem is a reference to the conflicts between the US and the quasi-independent Tripolitanian pirate-state.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
Thanks Sapyx , you never cease to amaze me.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don