Akçe — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire}} {{Distinguish | Aqcha}} {{expand Turkish|topic=|otherarticle=Akçe|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox currency | name = ''Akçe'' | local_name = آقچه | local_name_lang = ota | obsolete = yes | image_1 = File:Orhan Gazi Akçe.jpg | image_title_1 = ''Akçe'' of Orhan | using_countries = {{Collapsible list | title = Various | Anatolian Beyliks | Aq Qoyunlu | Crimean Khanate | Ottoman Empire}} }}

The '''''akçe''''' or '''''akça''''' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; {{langx|ota|آقچه}}; {{IPA|tr|akˈt͡ʃe}}, {{IPA|tr|akˈt͡ʃa|}}, in Europe known as '''''asper''''')<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Grierson | first = Philip | title = Asper | editor-last=Kazhdan | editor-first=Alexander | editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan | year=1991 | encyclopedia = The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium | location = Oxford and New York | publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 |page=211}}</ref> was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states including the Anatolian Beyliks, the Aq Qoyunlu,<ref name=numista>{{cite web|url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/index.php?e=aq_qoyunlu&r=&ct=coin&im1=&im2=&tb=y&tc=y&tn=y&tp=y&tt=y&cat=y&ru=&ca=3&no=&v=&i=&b=&d=&u=&a=&dg=&m=&f=&t=&w=&mt=&g=&se=|title=Coins from the tribal federation of Aq Qoyunlu}}</ref> and the Crimean Khanate. The basic meaning of the word is "silver" or "silver money", deriving from the Turkish word {{Lang|tr|ak}} ({{Gloss|white}}) and the diminutive suffix {{Lang|tr|-ça}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nisanyansozluk.com/?k=ak%C3%A7e&lnk=1|title = Akçe}}</ref>

== Cost == Three {{Lang|tr|akçe}}s were equal to one {{Lang|tr|para}}. One-hundred and twenty ''{{Lang|tr|akçe}}''s equalled one {{Lang|tr|kuruş}}. Later after 1687 the ''{{Lang|tr|kuruş}}'' became the main unit of account, replacing the {{Lang|tr|akçe}}. In 1843, the silver ''{{Lang|tr|kuruş}}'' was joined by the gold lira in a bimetallic system.<ref>Sevket Pamuk, ''A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire'', Cambridge University Press, 2000, {{ISBN|0-521-44197-8}}</ref> Its weight fluctuated; one source estimates it between 1.15 and 1.18 grams.<ref name="Ermiş">{{cite book|last1=Ermiş|first1=Fatih|title=A History of Ottoman Economic Thought|date=2013|page=23}}</ref> The name ''{{Lang|tr|akçe}}'' originally referred to a silver coin but later the meaning changed and it became a synonym for money. ==History== {{multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | image1 = Akçe of Murad II Obverse.JPG | width1 = 200 | image2 = Akçe of Murad II Reverse.JPG | width2 = 200 | footer = Obverse (left) and reverse (right) Murad II's {{Lang|tr|akçe}}, {{circa|1430-1431}} AD }}

The mint in Novo Brdo, a fortified mining town in the Serbian Despotate rich with gold and silver mines, began to strike ''{{Lang|tr|akçe}}'' in 1441 when it was captured by the Ottoman forces for the first time.<ref>{{cite book|title=Balkan studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0BpAAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Édition de lA̕cadémie bulgare des sciences.|page=111|quote=The mint at Novo brdo (in Turkish "Novar"), was the first to start striking Ottoman akçe — as early as 1441, when Murad Il's military commander, the eunuch Sibab ed-Din pasa captured the town, which had the greatest silver deposits and the ...}}</ref>

The Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul is said to have cost 59 million ''akçe'' when it was constructed in the 1550s. This amount is said to have equalled 700,000 ducats in gold (probably Venetian).{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}

==Debasement== Silver content and index in an Ottoman {{Lang|tr|akçe}}.<ref name=Malanima>{{cite book|last1=Malanima|first1=Paolo|title=Pre-Modern European Economy: One Thousand Years (10th-19th Centuries)|date=2009|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004178229|page=198|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C1Ej4VEPwSgC&q=devaluation+ak%C3%A7e+index&pg=PA198|access-date=19 June 2014}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Silver (g) !! Index |- | 1450–60 || 0.85 || 100 |- | 1490–1500|| 0.68 || 80 |- | 1600||0.29 || 34 |- | 1700|| 0.13 || 15 |- | 1800 || 0.048|| 6 |}

Value compared to the gold ducat of Venice by years:<ref name=tdv>{{TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|title=AKÇE: Osmanlılar’ın ilk gümüş para birimi ve ilk sikkesi.|author=HALİL SAHİLLİOĞLU|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/akce}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Ottoman ''akçes'' |- | 1431 || 35 |- | 1475 || 45 |- | 1491 || 52 |- | 1547 || 60 |- | 1585 || 110 |- | 1645 || 160 |- | 1659 || 220 |- | 1660 || 300 |- | 1721 || 375 |- | 1728 || 400 |- | 1737 || 440 |- |}

==See also== {{Portal|Money}} *Akşa *Manghir

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704114157/http://www.ottomancoins.com/ Ottoman coins] * [http://www.argophilia.com/news/silver-hoard-romania/29646/ September 1, 2013 - A huge treasure of 47,000 silver Akçe discovered in Goleşti, Romania] * [https://www.dema-coins.com/2021/08/akce-coin-of-crimean-khanate-15th-18th.html Akçe, 1481: Crimean Khanate (Ottoman Empire)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akce}} Category:Coins of the Ottoman Empire Category:Silver coins Category:Medieval currencies Category:Turkish words and phrases