DescriptionIn the mid-19th century modern European machinery was imported and “standard” coinage began to be made.Abdul Hamid II was brought to the throne to replace Murad V, who was a reformer but maybe too much of one. There was a coup led by the “Young Ottomans.” Abdul Hamid II started out with some moves toward reform. After two years he suspend the Constitution and ruled as a dictator until his death.The earliest coins in the world were struck in Asia Minor, in modern Turkish territory. The Turks themselves arrived as nomads staring in the 9th centuriy AD. The Ottomans emerged as a dominant power in the 14th century. The Turkish Empire dissolved after World War I and a republic was established.“Middle East” is, generally spealing, Morocco east to Afghanistan, Sudan in the south to Turkey in the north.By “Modern World Coins” we mean here, generally, the round, flat, shiny metal objects that people have used for money and still do. “Modern,” though, varies by location. There was some other way they were doing their economies, and then they switched over to “modern coins,” then they went toward paper money, now we’re all going toward digital, a future in which kids look at a coin and say “What’s that?” We’ll say: “We used to use those to buy things.” Kids will ask “How?” The main catalog reference is the Standard Catalog of World Coins, to which the KM numbers refer.
