Akçe
Akçe ( Ottoman آقچه İA Aḳçe, Aḳça , Turkish Akçe, Akça ) is the name for the first silver coin minted by the Ottomans and in circulation for many centuries . It was first coined during the reign of Sultan Orhan I (1326-1359). The Asperon , minted by the Comnenes in Trebizond , served as a model for the coin . With a fineness of 900 the coin weighs approx. 1.2 g and has a diameter of approx. 18 mm.
For centuries, the coin formed the backbone of the Ottoman monetary system. By the beginning of the 17th century, however, their weight gradually decreased to 0.33 g, with a diameter of 13 mm. In the same century, new coins (3 Akçe = 1 Para , 40 Para = 1 Kuruş ) were minted, which gradually replaced the Akçe . At the beginning of the 19th century, the weight, the fineness and thus the acceptance of the smallest Ottoman silver coin continued to decline. Eventually their minting was completely discontinued.