In 1299, a new powerful state appeared on the globe - the union of the Turkic-speaking tribes of
Asia Minor, called the
Ottoman Empire. The first money of this country was small and nondescript, but their weight was unchanged for centuries before the arrival of Sultan Mehmet the Second. These were silver acces, which were made on the model of coins minted during the Mongol Hulaguids dynasty. They were issued strictly in accordance with the canons of Islam, and therefore did not have any images. Mostly they were excerpts from texts of a religious nature. After some time, these coins of Turkey began to contain the name of the ruler, his signature and the date of manufacture.
In the sixteenth century, acres with a lot of impurities appeared. Coins of Turkey as a result have lost part of their value. As a result, a new monetary unit, a pair, appeared. By order of Suleiman the Second, the Kurush were introduced into circulation. These were gold coins of Turkey, which also did not escape depreciation. Over time, more and more impurities were added to them.
A new
monetary reform occurred during the reign of Sultan Abdul Majid. Realizing that there is little confidence in a depreciated currency, he gives an order in 1844 to mint coins belonging to seven denominations. The lyre became the most valuable of them, and the smallest - altilik.
Somewhat less radical monetary reforms occurred in the next, twentieth century. For a while, the lyre was equal to a hundred kurush, and those, in turn, were forty pairs. The latter disappeared in 1923. At the end of the last century, the lyre suffered a strong devaluation, in fact, depreciation. Turkish coins with five zeros even appeared in circulation. The smallest monetary unit of the time was 4,000 lire. Some coins of Turkey, issued in the late 1990s and early 2000s, are of serious interest to numismatists. In particular, the shape of some of them is non-standard - oval or square.
Modern Turkish coins are different from their recent predecessors. Kurushi reappeared. Strengthening the lira led to the fact that it made sense to issue small
bargaining coins of Turkey. 1 lira new (yeni lirasi) now cost a million old. New kurush are minted in brass and a copper-nickel alloy. All modern Turkish coins have an image of the great statesman
Kemal Mustafa Ataturk. The nominal value of small circulation media ranges from 0.01 to 1 lira.
Commemorative coins of Turkey are also issued. Their price is much higher than face value. In 2002, a batch of coins “Flowers of Turkey” was issued. Each of these specimens contains an image of some kind of endangered bird, its name. Naturally, the cost of such coins is also much higher than the face value. Of particular value is one square copy, which was already mentioned above. This is a coin in denomination of 7.5 million lire, which was issued in the early 1990s. It was minted from 925 sterling silver. The Turkish Mint periodically releases collection items. Many of them have images of different animals - cats, dogs, tigers, eagles, turtles, monkeys, etc. Such Turkish coins have an attractive appearance.