Mehmed VI 100 Kurush

The 100 Kurush gold coin of Mehmed VI was struck during the Ottoman Empire's final collapse, a period when the sultan's authority was more symbolic than real.

This piece, minted in Istanbul between 1918 and 1922, features Mehmed VI's tughra on the obverse, that elaborate calligraphic signature of Ottoman rulers. The reverse shows standard Islamic inscriptions, including the denomination and mint date. We know it was produced from gold, likely sourced from earlier coins or bullion, but exact compositions remain unclear due to lost archival records from the era's upheavals.

Mintage figures are uncertain; whatever documents existed probably burned in the fires that ravaged Istanbul during the Turkish War of Independence. It's a straightforward gold coin, not the mythical relic some enthusiasts claim.

Some say these coins circulated amid the empire's debts, a last gasp of fiscal pretense.