(sold for $41.0)

1828, Ottoman Empire, Sultan Mahmud II. Tiny Gold ½ Hayriye Altin Coin. 0.86gm!
Constantinople the divinely protected and guarded (city).

Edge: Reeded
Reference: KM-637.
Mint Year: 1828 (AH1223 + 22)
Condition: Pierced, otherwise VF+
Denomination: Hairiye Altin (Sultani)
Mint Place: Constantinople (Qustantiniyah)
Material: Pure Gold!
Diameter: 16mm
Weight: 0.86gm

Obverse: Tughra (seal) of Mahmud II within circle. Three groups of kufic scripts inside oval frames and flower branches in outer field.

Reverse: Regnal year (22) above mint (Constantinople) with "Al-Mahrusa" epithet added. Decorations around as above.
Comment: The "Al-Mahrusa" epithet translates as "the divinely protected and guarded".

Mahmud II (Mahmud-i sani) (20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. He was born at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Abdul Hamid I. His reign is notable mostly for the extensive legal and military reforms he instituted. His mother was Valide Sultan (1808) Naksh-i-Dil Haseki Sultan or Nakshidil Haseki Sultan, tr:Naksidil Sultan . He is the ancestor of all succeeding Sultans.

His most notable achievement was the abolition of the Janissary corps in 1826 and the establishment of a modern Ottoman Army, named the Nizam-i Cedid (meaning New Order in Ottoman Turkish).

Following the loss of the Ottoman Vilayet of Greece after the Battle of Navarino against the combined British-French-Russian fleets in 1827, Mahmud II gave top priority to rebuilding a strong Ottoman naval force. The first steam ships of the Ottoman Navy were acquired in 1828. In 1829 the 62x17x7 m ship-of-the-line Mahmudiye, the world's largest warship for many years, which was armed with 128 cannons on 3 decks, was built by the Imperial Naval Arsenal on the Golden Horn in Istanbul.