(sold for $32.0)

1804, Tunisia (Ottoman Empire), Sultan Selim III. Silver Piastre Coin. F-VF

Reference: KM-72.2.
Denomination: Piastre.
Mint Place: Tunis (Tunisia)
Condition: Weakly struck obverse, scratches, otherwise VF!
Mint Year: 1804 (AH 1218)
Weight: 15.21gm
Diameter: 34mm
Material: Silver

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Selim III (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثالث Selīm-i sālis) (24 December 1761 – 28 or 29 July 1808) was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. Selim was killed by a group of assassins subsequently after a Janissary revolt.

Selim III was the son of Sultan Mustafa III and his wife Mihrişah Sultan. His mother "Mihrişah Valide Sultan" originated in Georgia and when she became the Valide Sultan, she participated in reforming the government schools and establishing political corporations. His father Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III was very well educated and believed in the necessity of reforms. Mustafa III attempted to create a powerful army during the peacetime with professional, well-educated soldiers. This was primarily motivated by his fear of a Russian invasion. During the Turko-Russian War he fell ill and died of a heart attack in 1774. Sultan Mustafa was aware of the fact that a military reform was necessary. He declared new military regulations and opened maritime and artillery academies.

Sultan Mustafa was very influenced by mysticism. Oracles predicted his son Selim would be a world-conqueror, so he organized a joyous feast lasting seven days. Selim was very well educated in the palace. Sultan Mustafa III bequeathed his son as his successor; however, Selim's uncle Abdulhamid I ascended the throne after Mustafa's death. Sultan Abdulhamid I took care of Selim and put great emphasis on his education.

After Abdulhamid's death Selim succeeded him on 7 April 1789, in his 28th year. Sultan Selim III was very fond of literature and calligraphy; many of his works were put on the walls of mosques and convents. He wrote many poems, especially about Crimea's occupation by Russia. He spoke Arabic and Persian fluently. Selim III was very religious, and very patriotic. He was a poet, a musician and very fond of fine arts.

Selim was a very modern man and a reformist ruler. He planned to modernize the Ottoman Empire. Prince Selim developed plans for modernizing the Ottoman Army.[1] Selim came to the throne during the 1787–92 war with Austria and Russia and had to postpone serious reform efforts until its completion. Selim’s early efforts to modernize the Janissary corps created such opposition that thereafter he concentrated on creating a new European-style army, using modern weapons and European tactics. Officers and military experts sent by the different European powers trained in Constantinople and in a number of Anatolian provincial centers. This new force never numbered more than 10,000 active soldiers.[2] In order to avoid disrupting the established Ottoman institutions, it was financed by an entirely new treasury whose revenues came from taxes imposed on previously untaxed sources and from the confiscation whose holders were not fulfilling their military and administrative duties to the state. Under the guidance of European technicians, factories were erected to manufacture modern weapons and ammunition and technical schools were opened to train Ottoman officers. Limited efforts were also made to rationalize the Ottoman administrative machinery, but largely along traditional lines. The older military corps, however, remained intact and hostile to the new force, and Selim was therefore compelled to limit its size and use.

Selim III left the throne to Mustafa on 29 May 1807. A year and 2 months later he was killed by Alemdar Pasha under the order of Selim's cousin, and successor, Mustafa IV. He was buried in Laleli Mosque near his father's tomb. Selim had 15 wives, Nefizar Kadınefendi, Hüsnimah Kadınefendi, Zibifer Kadınefendi, Afitab Kadınefendi, Re’fet Kadınefendi, Nurișems Kadınefendi, Goncanigar Kadınefendi, Demhoş Kadınefendi, Tabısafa Kadınefendi, Mahbube Kadınefendi, Aynısafa Kadınefendi, Meryem Hanımefendi, Mihriban Hanımefendi, Fatma Fericihan Hanımefendi.