IN THE ABSENCE OF DOMESTIC CURRENCY - DEBASED EUROPEAN COINAGE IN THE17TH-CENTURY OTTOMAN-EMPIRE

The Near East was subject to many of the same fiscal and monetary forc es that affected Europe and parts of Asia during the early modern era. For almost two decades during the seventeenth century, debased Europe an coinage circulated widely in Ottoman markets at values far above th eir specie content. This article provides an explanation in terms of O ttoman fiscal deficits, currency instability, currency substitution, a nd decline in local silver mines all of which led to the closure of mi nts. The reasons behind the conspicuous absence of Ottoman copper coin age during this period are also explored.