Ottoman Coins Minted in

Cyprus
by Dr. Gyula Petrαnyi

Part 1: Akches
Cyprus came under Ottoman rule in 1570AD and remained
part of the Empire until 1878. Although Murad III ordered the
building a mint on the island in 1579, it is not evident that he
minted any coins in there. Only coins struck by Mehmed III,
Ahmed I and Murad IV have so far been found with the
Cyprus mint name on them. The Cyprus mint seems to have
been in operation between 1595 and 1640.

Two silver denominations, the akches and a somewhat larger

coin are known from the Cyprus mint. We will focus on the
akche in this article and leave the other denomination for a
future article.

KIBRIS, the name of the island in Turkish, is spelt with the

Arabic letters QBRS (qaf-ba-ra-sin). All varieties of Akches
from KIBRIS have counterparts from many other Ottoman
mints and are distinguishable only by the mint name. The
appearance of the mint name, therefore, is an essential
element for the identification on KIBRIS struck Akches.

As usual, the KIBRIS akches have inscriptions only, in Arabic.

They can be classified as either a circular type or a linear type
according to the arrangement of the obverse legend. The
reverse legend is always in the linear arrangement. A dot can
be found in the geometrical center of the double border on
both sides unless obliterated by other parts of the legend.
The diameter of the outer border (dotted border) is 11 mm,
and that of the line border is 10 mm. The actual coins are
around 9-11 mm in size but many coins are irregular in
shape, off-center and badly struck. The average weight of the
KIBRIS Akche is around 0.3 g.

The obverse legend shows the name of the ruler (X) as

Sultan and the name of his dead father (Y) as Han: Sultan X
bin Y Han. In the circular type the ruler's name is in the
center and Sultan bin Y Han forms the circle around the
name. In the linear type the legend is in three horizontal
lines: Sultan / X bin / Y Han.

The reverse legend is invariably in four horizontal lines: 'azze

nasruhu / duribe / KIBRIS / accession year of the ruler;
that is, "may his victory be glorious, minted [in] Cyprus" and
the accession year AH.

All varieties of the Cyprus akches are listed below. The

sequence is in the most probable chronological order, the
exact dates of the issues within the same reign are unknown.
The chart helps to observe the differences. The circle
represents the line border of the stamp, not the edge of the
coin; this was surrounded by another border of dots. The full
image is rarely visible on the actual pieces.
MEHMED III
1595-1603, accession year: 1003 AH
All akches are of the circular type. The two varieties are
different in the positioning of the obverse legend around the
name in center.

Type 1a. Obv. Circular: MEHMED in center, SULTAN BIN

MURAD HAN around; legend starts below MEHMED.
Rev. 'AZZE NASRUHU / DURIBE / KIBRIS /
1003.

Type 1b. Obv. Circular: MEHMED in center, SULTAN BIN

MURAD HAN around; legend starts above
MEHMED. Rev. 'AZZE NASRUHU / DURIBE /
KIBRIS / 1003.

AHMED I
1603-1617, accession year: 1012 AH
The linear obverse type is more common. The circular type
have the faulty accession year 1102 and the script on the
reverse is closer in style to the akches of Murad IV.

Type 1. Obv. Linear: SULTAN / AHMED BIN / MEHMED

HAN in three lines. Rev. 'AZZE NASRUHU /
DURIBE / KIBRIS / 1012.

Type 2. Obv. Circular: AHMED in center, SULTAN BIN

MEHMED HAN around; legend starts below
AHMED. Rev. 'AZZE NASRUHU / DURIBE /
KIBRIS / 1102.

MURAD IV
1623-1640, accession year: 1032 AH
All are of the linear type obverse legend. One coin is known
with year 1033 instead of 1032.

Type 1a. Obv. Linear: SULTAN / MURAD BIN / AHMED

HAN in three lines. Rev. 'AZZE NASRUHU /
DURIBE / KIBRIS / 1032.

Type 1b. The same as Type 1a but with 1033.

General comments
Very few KIBRIS Akches have been published, the total
number of these Akches recorded from all over the world is
still under 50. Most of them are in private collections. The
silver content of the these Akches is unknown, a few have
silvery appearance but corroded pieces show that more
debased issues also exist.

The numbers of recorded pieces suggest the following relative

rarity of the varieties listed from the most common to the
most rare:

a) Mehmed III Type 1a (the commonest)

b) Ahmed I Type 1
c) Murad IV Type 1a
d) Mehmed III Type 1b
e) Ahmed I Type 2
f) Murad IV Type 1b (one piece recorded).

Our thanks to Dr. Gyula Petrαnyi for sharing his insight on

this interesting Ottoman/Cypriote coinage. Originally from
Hungary, Dr. Petrαnyi is a medical doctor living and
practicing in Cyprus. Along with his interest in
Ottoman/Cypriote coinage his main field in numismatics is
the study of the 3rd-1st c BC Greek-Illyrian silver coinage of
Apollonia and Dyrrhachium. Any aspects of this topic can be
discussed with the author by email.