DescriptionIn the mid-19th century modern European machinery was imported and “standard” coinage began to be made.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 a funny kind of phrase. It “should” mean the “middle,” say, Egypt to Iran. But in common usuage it means everything from Morocco in far northwest Africa all the way to Afghanistan. Right? I mean, if I talk about “the Levant,” or Jazira, you have to know something about geography. But if I say “Middle East” you’re going to have a picture in your head. Maybe Cairo, maybe Kabul, but you’ll have the reference.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.
