What coin is this one?

[marinakc-777]

I don't know arabic so I can't even search in the internet to find something
similar, can you help me please?

[Luc Andre D]

Looks ottoman, I can read a 1255 AH date, so it should be early 19th century. Someone else will certainly be able to give more details.

Edit: just noticed I mistook arabic 5s for zeros... 

[marinakc-777]

Thank you!

[KIR]

Ottoman AE 40 Para 1255AH yr. 19 Sultan Abdulmecid Qstantaniyye mint

[marinakc-777]

Thank you very much!

[commodus]

The coin is upside down in the top photo. The Tughra should appear as shown below.
The date is clearly 1255 in Arabic, which corresponds to 1839, but that would have been the first year of the reign of Abdulmecid, not the 19th, which would be 1858. I believe the Ottoman Empire changed its calendar from Al Hijra to Rumi some time in the 19th century, which could account for the difference. Perhaps someone here knows the history of this and can determine in what year of the Gregorian calendar this coin was minted.

[Sap]

The Ottoman Empire never changed calendars, at least so far as the dates which appear on the coins are concerned; they are always AH dates. The clearly visible year 1255 (it looks kind of like "IVOO" near the bottom of your lower pic) is just the accession year, when this particular sultan came to the throne. The actual year of issue is on the obverse, below the toughra (the central squiggly thing); since your pic is upside down, it's above it. This number here is "19" (it looks almost the same as "Western" numerals 19), but to calculate the year we don't simply add 19 to 1255, because 1255 was Year 1, not Year Zero. So, add 19 and subtract 1 to 1255 and we get 1273. The hejira year 1273 began on September 9 1856, so the AD date equivalent is usually given either as "1857" or "1856/7", since the coin could have been struck either in late 1856 or early 1857.

It's listed in the Krause catalogue of world coins as KM# 670. The example for the type listed on WorldCoinGallery is dated Year 20 (=1857/8) but is otherwise the same.

[commodus]

Ah, I see it now -- the 19 (the 1255 was never unclear to me). I was misunderstanding the dating system. Thanks, Sap, for the clarification. Obviously, Ottoman coinage is not my area, though I can recognize them when I see them, even if I can't read them!

Looking up the calendar question I see that, no, the Ottoman Empire never changed the calendar dating from al Hijra, though it did (in 1839) switch from the lunar calendar used in most of the Muslim world to a solar calendar called Rumi, a version of the Julian calendar but with Hijra dating (i.e. counting from Muhammed's emigration in 622 AD).

[marinakc-777]

So, the coin is  Ottoman AE 40 Para 1255AH yr. 19 Sultan Abdulmecid Qstantaniyye mint.
Is it a common coin?

[Pekka K]

Yes, it is common, the mint city is also known
as Konstantinople and Istambul.

Pekka K

[marinakc-777]

Thank you, Mr. Pekka K!