The evolution of money in the Ottoman Empire, 1326-1922

Abstract

This thesis examines the evolution of the Ottoman monetary system from the earliest coinages until the end of the empire. It also summarizes the types of coinage and money in use over the entire period. In this reference, the individual chapters are substantially expanded with tables providing detailed statistical data. In organizing the six centuries of the Ottoman monetary history, five time periods are defined according to changes in the monetary system. 1326-1477: the silver-based monometallic period, from the minting of the first silver aqcha up to the minting of the first Ottoman gold coin. 1477-1584: the bimetallic period based on the silver aqcha and the gold sultani, from the minting of the first Ottoman gold coin until the beginning of the flow of cheap silver from the Americas. 1584-1687, a period of monetary crisis, disintegration of the Ottoman monetary system due to inter-continental movements of specie, from the arrival of large amounts of precious metals from’ the West until the minting of the Ottoman qurush. 1687-1840: a new bimetallic system and its disintegration, from a new monetary system based on a new silver standard, called the Ottoman qurush, until the first Ottoman experiment with paper money. 1840-1922: a new bimetallic system to the gold standard and the debut of the paper money, from a new bimetallic system around the gold lira until the eve of its destruction in 1922.