Osman Gazi’s Palace, Mint & Institutions.
Historian Hakan Yılmaz recently discovered a coin bearing the inscription ‘Yenişehir Mint’ (‘Darphane-i Yenişehir’) belonging to Osmangazi at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.
This coin is currently displayed at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, shedding new light on the founding period of the Ottomans.
“The discovery of this coin also clearly indicates that there was a palace in Yenişehir, official institutions affiliated with the palace, and a mint,” he said.
Describing the journey of the coin from Istanbul to Qatar, he stated that “the coin was originally in the collection of Şerafettin Erel, who was engaged in the jewelry business in Istanbul. This coin, along with 400 coins belonging to the Seljuk and Ottoman eras in Şerafettin Erel’s collection, was sold to a Swiss collector in the early 1990s, and this collector kept it in his cupboards for many years without subjecting it to any historical or scientific research before selling it to a Qatari shiekh.
After the Qatari shiekh donated the coin to the Islamic Art Museum in Doha, scientific research was conducted on the coin. Following these studies, it was revealed that the coin belonged to the Osmangazi era and is one of the oldest known coins from the Ottoman period today”.
PS: The top picture is that of what’s believed to be remains of Osman Gazi’s Palace in Yenişehır
