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One of the earliest known silver coins minted under Orhan Gazi, a ruler from the formative years of the Ottoman state, has been put up for sale in London for £1,500 ($1,986.45).
The coin, described as one of the earliest types of Ottoman akce issued during Orhan Gazi's reign, was listed by London-based collectibles and jewelry platform House of Emirates.
The seller describes the piece as an "Extremely rare early Ottoman silver Akce from the formative years of the Ottoman Empire," presenting it as an artifact from one of the earliest stages of the Ottoman monetary system.
Numista, an international catalog and collector platform for coins and banknotes, gives the coin a rarity score of 93 out of 100.
According to the sales listing, the Orhan Gazi akce is considered the earliest Ottoman coin that can be definitively identified as carrying the name of an Ottoman ruler.
An akce was a small silver coin that became an important part of the early Ottoman monetary system.
The front of the coin bears Orhan Gazi's name alongside a prayer meaning "may God perpetuate his kingdom." The reverse carries the Islamic declaration of faith and the names of the four caliphs.
Orhan Gazi, the son of Ottoman founder Osman Gazi, had his first akce minted in Yenisehir in 1324.
Issuing coins in the ruler's own name was regarded as a sign that the emerging Ottoman polity could operate as an independent state, and the coin itself came to symbolize economic sovereignty.
The silver piece now offered in London dates back to that early period, when the Ottoman polity was beginning to develop the institutions of a state that would later expand across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
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