Item number: A4194

Year: AD 1874

Material: Gold (.875)

Size: 17.7 x 17.7 mm

Weight: 4.2740 g recorded

Manufactured by: Cairo Mint

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2025

This is a gold coin issued in AD 1874 by the Egyptian Pasha Isma’il in the name of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz, with a denomination of 50 Kurush.

The centre of the obverse features the tughra of Abdülaziz reading “عبد العزيز خان بن محمود، المظفر دائماً” (Abdulaziz khan bin Mahmud, el-muzaffer daima), which signifies “The ever-victorious, Abdulaziz Khan, son of Mahmud.” Below this is the denomination “٥٠ ش ” (50 Qsh), an abbreviation for “Five Kurush”. The outer edge is characterised by a denticulated rim with inward-pointing square teeth.

The centre of the reverse bears the inscription “ضرب في مصر” (Duriba fi Misr), meaning “Struck in Egypt.” The “١٢٧٧” (1277) at the lower margin denotes the Hijri year 1277, the year of the Sultan’s accession, corresponding to AD 1860. The numeral “١٥” (15) at the upper margin corresponds to the 13th year of the reign, equivalent to AD 1874.

Abdülaziz, the son of Sultan Mahmud II, ascended the throne as the Ottoman Sultan in AD 1861 following the death of his elder brother, Abdülmecid I. At the commencement of his reign, he exhibited an austerity distinct from his predecessor, issuing edicts promising to streamline administrative procedures and reduce palace expenditures. He not only dissolved the extensive harem inherited from his brother but also sent a significant quantity of palace gold and silver plate to the mint for melting to bolster the national treasury. Administratively, he relied heavily on the enlightened bureaucrats Fuad Pasha and Ali Pasha, dedicating himself to the advancement of the Tanzimat reforms. In AD 1867, Abdülaziz accepted an invitation from Napoleon III to visit the Exposition Universelle in Paris, subsequently visiting London and Vienna; he thus became the first Ottoman monarch to set foot in Western Europe during peacetime. During this tour, he manifested a profound interest in Western industrial technology. Upon his return, he oversaw the compilation of the first civil code (Mecelle) and, in AD 1868, established the Galatasaray High School to promote French-style secular education. However, he maintained an almost obsessive pursuit of naval power, investing colossal sums in ordering the most advanced ironclad warships from Britain and France. By the AD 1870s, this resulted in the Ottoman Navy briefly becoming the third largest in the world, yet it also imposed a catastrophic fiscal burden. Following the death of Ali Pasha in AD 1871, Abdülaziz increasingly concentrated power and descended into autocracy. He commissioned the construction of the opulent Beylerbeyi and Çırağan Palaces, which exacerbated the national deficit. In AD 1875, following the Herzegovina uprising in the Balkans and a severe drought, the Empire suffered a financial collapse and declared a moratorium on foreign debt interest, leading to a loss of international credit. In May AD 1876, amidst demonstrations by the religious students (softas) and a coup orchestrated by Midhat Pasha, he was deposed at the Dolmabahçe Palace. Shortly thereafter, while in confinement, he was found dead on 4 June AD 1876, with the arteries of his wrists severed by scissors.

During the early 19th century, the power vacuum left by the withdrawal of Napoleon’s forces precipitated a conflict between Ottoman central troops, Albanian mercenaries, and the Mamluk factions that had dominated Egypt for centuries. Muhammad Ali, an Albanian officer, adroitly exploited the dissatisfaction of Cairo’s citizenry and the ulama regarding the Mamluks’ brutal rule. In AD 1805, he compelled the Sultan to appoint him as Governor (Wali), subsequently assuming the title of Khedive. In AD 1811, he executed the infamous “Massacre at the Citadel” in Cairo, eliminating the remaining Mamluk leaders and consolidating a military dictatorship that empowered him to initiate modernising reforms. Upon being requested by the Ottomans to suppress the Greek War of Independence, his fleet was annihilated by British forces. After failing to secure compensation from Sultan Mahmud II, Ali unilaterally deployed his army to seize Syria. His forces were victorious along their route, but on the eve of marching upon Istanbul, the European powers intervened. Ultimately, he secured only hereditary rule over Egypt and the Hejaz, establishing the Muhammad Ali dynasty, also known as the Alawiyya dynasty.

Isma’il Pasha was born in Cairo in AD 1830, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, the founder of modern Egypt. Having studied at the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in France, he was deeply influenced by French culture and urban design. He succeeded his uncle, Sa’id Pasha, in AD 1863. Upon assuming office, he directed vast resources towards infrastructure, constructing 8,000 miles of irrigation canals to expand arable land and extending Egypt’s railway network from 245 miles to 1,200 miles, alongside 5,000 miles of telegraph lines and 450 bridges. In AD 1867, through the payment of a substantial tribute to the Ottoman Sultan, he secured the hereditary title of “Khedive,” granting him near-independent status, and altered the law of succession to ensure the rule of his descendants. The zenith of Isma’il’s reign was marked by the opening of the Suez Canal in AD 1869, for which he hosted a lavish celebration attended by European dignitaries, including Empress Eugénie of France, and commissioned the Cairo Opera House for the occasion. He undertook a massive urban renewal of Cairo based on the Parisian model, introducing gas street lighting and modern water systems, earning the city the moniker “Paris on the Nile.” Regarding territorial expansion, he dispatched explorers such as Baker and Gordon to the Sudan and equatorial regions in an attempt to locate the source of the Nile and annex Darfur. However, the collapse of cotton prices following the American Civil War, combined with his reliance on high-interest loans (ranging from 7% to 12%) from Western banks, saw Egypt’s debt soar from £3 million to £90 million in just over a decade. In AD 1875, he was forced to sell Egypt’s shares in the Suez Canal to the British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, for the low sum of £4 million. In AD 1876, Egypt’s fiscal sovereignty was surrendered to the Anglo-French “Commission de la Dette Publique” due to insolvency. When Isma’il attempted to incite nationalist sentiment in AD 1879 to resist foreign interference and dismiss the constitutional cabinet, Britain and France pressured the Ottoman Sultan to issue a telegraph for his deposition. He subsequently went into exile in Italy and Istanbul, accompanied by his family and jewellery aboard the yacht Mahroussa, and ultimately passed away at Beylerbeyi Palace in AD 1895.

物件編號: A4194

年代: 公元 1874 年

材質: 金 (.875)

尺寸: 17.7 x 17.7 mm

重量: 紀錄為 4.2740 g

製造地: 開羅

來源: 福君錢幣 2025

這是一枚公元1874年，埃及帕夏伊斯梅爾以鄂圖曼土耳其蘇丹阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲的名義發行的金幣，面額50庫魯什。

錢幣正面中央為阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲的花押「عبد العزيز خان بن محمود، المظفر دائماً」(Abdulaziz khan bin Mahmud, el-muzaffer daima)，意為「永遠的勝利者，馬哈茂德之子，阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲汗」。下方為面額「٥٠ ش」(50 (Qir)sh)，即「50庫魯什」的簡寫。外緣有方齒向內的邊環。

錢幣背面中央為「ضرب في مصر」(Duriba fi Misr)，即「鑄於埃及」，下緣的「١٢٧٧」(1277)即伊斯蘭曆127年，為蘇丹登基年份，相當於公元1860年。上緣的數字「١٥」(15)則是對應到登基第15年，相當於公元1872年。

阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲，是蘇丹馬哈茂德二世之子，於公元1861年在其兄長阿卜杜勒-馬吉德一世去世後繼位為鄂圖曼土耳其蘇丹。他在即位之初展現出與前任截然不同的節儉氣象，頒布詔書承諾簡化行政程序並縮減宮廷預算，不僅解散了兄長留下的龐大後宮，還將大量宮廷金銀器皿送往鑄幣廠熔毀以支撐財政。他在行政上高度依賴開明官僚傅阿德帕夏與阿里帕夏，致力於推動《坦志麥特》改革。公元1867年，阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲受拿破崙三世邀請訪問巴黎參加萬國博覽會，隨後訪問倫敦與維也納，成為首位在和平時期踏足西歐的鄂圖曼君主，他在訪問期間表現出對西方工業技術的強烈興趣。回國後，他推動了首部《民法典》(Mecelle)的編纂，並於公元1868年創立了加拉塔薩雷高中以推廣法式世俗教育。然而，他對海軍力量有著近乎偏執的追求，投入巨資向英國與法國訂購當時最先進的鐵甲艦，使鄂圖曼海軍在公元1870年代一度躍升為世界第三，但這也造成了毀滅性的財政負擔。隨著公元1871年阿里帕夏去世，阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲逐漸收回權力並陷入專制，他興建了富麗堂皇的貝勒貝伊宮與查拉安宮，加劇了國家赤字。公元1875年，帝國因巴爾幹半島的赫塞哥維納起義與旱災導致財政崩潰，宣佈停止支付外債利息，引發國際信用喪失。公元1876年5月，在神職人員「索夫塔」的示威與米德哈特帕夏的策劃下，他在多爾瑪巴赫切宮被廢黜，隨即被禁錮，並於公元1876年6月4日被發現死於獄中，手腕動脈被剪刀割斷。

公元19世紀初，拿破崙軍隊撤離後留下的權力真空，引發了鄂圖曼中央派遣軍、阿爾巴尼亞僱傭軍以及盤踞埃及數百年的馬穆魯克(Mamluk)集團之間的混戰。穆罕默德·阿里作為一名阿爾巴尼亞軍官，巧妙地利用開羅市民與教長(Ulama)對馬穆魯克殘酷統治的不滿，於公元1805年迫使蘇丹任命其為總督(wali)，並自行僭稱為赫迪夫(khedive)。公元1811年，阿里在開羅城堡發動著名的「宴會屠殺」，將殘存的馬穆魯克領袖一舉消滅，使阿里得以進行實質上的軍事獨裁，並使其有了進行現代化改革的權力。在受鄂圖曼邀請前往鎮壓希臘獨立戰爭時，所轄海軍被英軍全殲。阿里向鄂圖曼蘇丹馬哈茂德二世索賠未果，於是逕行出兵奪取敘利亞。阿里沿途所向皆捷，但在進軍伊斯坦堡前夕，歐洲列強介入調停，最終僅得到對埃及和漢志地區的世襲統治權，是為穆罕默德·阿里王朝，又稱為阿拉維王朝。

伊斯梅爾帕夏於公元1830年出生於開羅，是埃及現代化奠基者穆罕默德·阿里之孫，早年留學於法國聖西爾軍校，深受法式文化與都市設計影響，於公元1863年繼承其叔父賽義德帕夏之位。他上任後投入大量資源於基礎設施，興建了長達8,000英里的灌溉渠道以擴張耕地，並將全埃及的鐵路網從245英里擴展至1,200英里，同時建立了5,000英里的電報線與450座橋樑。公元1867年，他透過支付鄂圖曼蘇丹巨額貢金，正式獲得了「赫迪夫」(Khedive)這一近乎獨立的世襲稱號，並更改了繼承法以確保其後裔的統治權。伊斯梅爾統治的巔峰標誌是公元1869年蘇伊士運河的通航，他邀請了法國歐仁妮皇后等歐洲名流參加極盡奢華的慶典，並为此興建了開羅歌劇院。他以巴黎為藍圖對開羅進行大規模都市更新，引入煤氣路燈與現代化供水系統，使開羅具備了「尼羅河上的巴黎」之美譽。在領土擴張方面，他派遣貝克與戈登等探險家前往蘇丹與赤道地區，試圖尋找尼羅河源頭並併吞達佛。然而，由於美國內戰後棉花價格崩跌，加上他以高達7%至12%的高利貸向西方銀行舉債，埃及債務在短短十餘年間由300萬英鎊飆升至9,000萬英鎊。公元1875年，他被迫以400萬英鎊的低價將埃及持有的蘇伊士運河股份售予英國首相迪斯雷利。公元1876年，埃及財政主權因無法償債而交由英法「債務委員會」監管。當伊斯梅爾於公元1879年試圖透過發動民族主義情緒來反抗外國干預並解除憲制內閣時，英法兩國施壓鄂圖曼蘇丹發出電報將其廢黜。他隨後帶著家眷與珠寶乘坐「馬赫魯薩號」遊艇流亡義大利與伊斯坦堡，最終於公元1895年在貝勒貝伊宮去世。