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Republic of Turkey
25 Kurush Gold Coin
土耳其共和國
25庫魯什金幣
Item number: A4649
Year: AD 1973
Material: Gold
Size: 16.0 x 16.0 mm
Provenance: 福君錢幣 2025
This is a 25 Kurush gold coin issued in AD 1973 by the Republic of Turkey.
This design of Republic gold coinage was issued from AD 1926 to 1929. Although no denomination appears on the coins, the type corresponds to several values: 25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 kuruş. The kuruş (kuruş, also known historically as the piastre) was, in the imperial period, a relatively large silver denomination comparable to the French écu, but it later declined in value and became a small copper coin. In the monetary reform of AD 1688 under Ahmad III, the ratio of 100 kuruş (piastres) to 1 lira (Turkish pound) was established, a standard that has continued in use. After the establishment of the Republic, the terms piastre, Turkish pound and para ceased to be used.
The Republic of Turkey was established at 20:30 on 29 October AD 1923, when the Grand National Assembly adopted the republican form of government unanimously, marking the formal end of the Ottoman Empire. In the early years of the Republic, the government faced severe economic scarcity, monetary instability and the necessity of reconstructing the entire currency system after prolonged warfare. In contrast to the Ottoman monetary structure based on gold and silver, the Republican authorities first prioritised the withdrawal of obsolete paper money and low-denomination notes. On 3 March AD 1924, following the abolition of the Caliphate, and in accordance with Law No. 41, promulgated on 12 February AD 1924, the 5- and 10-para postage notes, together with the 40- and 100-para and 5- and 25-kuruş paper issues, were ordered out of circulation. They were replaced by bronze issues of 10 kuruş, 5 kuruş and 100 para, which were released between August and October AD 1924.
Regarding gold coinage, the Republican government did not reinstate the Ottoman gold standard. Instead, gold was increasingly confined to reserve and symbolic functions, although its importance never waned. In AD 1925, as the old dies could no longer be used, the Mint petitioned the Ministry of Finance to authorise the production of new “national gold-coin dies”. The Ministry deemed the request necessary, whereupon the Cabinet approved it and submitted the matter on 20 August AD 1923 to the President of the Grand National Assembly. The document was referred to the Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Kanunu Encümeni (Committee on the Law of Fundamental Organisation) for examination. The committee’s first draft was returned by the Assembly for revision, after which the design was finalised at a meeting attended by the Director of the Mint and formally approved without amendment in the session of 15 January AD 1924. Once the designs had been completed according to these specifications, they were ratified at the Cabinet meeting of 25 December the same year and transmitted officially to the Mint on 8 April AD 1925, whereupon production of the new dies commenced. On Monday, 5 October AD 1925, the first Republican “Five-Lira Gold Coin” was struck in a formal ceremony witnessed by the Minister of Finance, members of parliament, and senior civil and military officials. The coin was presented by the Minister of Finance, Abdülhalik, to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. A total of 226 five-lira gold coins were minted that day, symbolising the Republic’s assumption of its own sovereign gold-coinage system.
In AD 1926, the Grand National Assembly, on 26 December AH 1341, adopted Law No. 698, by which the international (Gregorian) calendar replaced the Islamic calendar as the official reckoning. This took effect from the day following 3 December AH 1341, that is, 1 January AD 1926. As a result, the dates on Republican coinage changed from the Islamic calendar to the Gregorian one, making AD 1926 the first year to appear fully in Western dating on Turkish coinage. According to Ministry of Finance records, AD 1926 saw the minting of 2,268 five-lira gold coins, 604 two-and-a-half-lira pieces, 1,703 one-lira pieces, 2,168 half-lira pieces, and 4,539 quarter-lira pieces. Their fineness was approximately 22 carats, and their weights and diameters were fixed according to denomination; together they constituted the earliest series of Republican gold coinage.
Although gold no longer played a central role in official monetary policy, it retained irreplaceable cultural significance within Turkish society. Republican gold coins (Cumhuriyet altını or Ata altını) were not treated as circulating currency but functioned within civil society as a stable and widely accepted “social currency”. Quarter, half and full gold pieces became essential gifts at weddings, births and religious celebrations, symbolising good fortune, family wealth and secure long-term savings. In a context of recurrent inflation and fluctuating confidence in paper money, gold became the informal benchmark within the popular financial system. Even after the government enacted the Law on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency (Law No. 1567) in AD 1930, restricting gold exports and large-scale gold transactions and thereby removing gold from the formal monetary regime, Republican gold coins continued to circulate actively in social and cultural practice. As of AD 2025, Turkey remains among the world’s largest consumers of gold in the private sector, and the State Mint still accepts bullion from private individuals to be reminted into Republican gold coins or Republican ziynet (ornamental gold) of equivalent weight.
Cuhaj, George S., editor. Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins: With Platinum and Palladium Issues, 1601–Present. 6th ed., Iola: Krause Publications, 2009. (KM#)