5 Qirsh - Mehmed V

The AH 1327 coinage of Mehmed V was struck at a politically volatile moment — the sultan had been placed on the throne by the Committee of Union and Progress just weeks after Abdul Hamid II was deposed following the failed counter-coup of April 1909. Mehmed V held largely ceremonial power throughout his reign, the CUP effectively running the empire while the coinage bore his name and regnal year.

Brass was an unusual choice for Ottoman subsidiary coinage of this period, reflecting both wartime metal pressures and the broader fiscal strain the empire was already experiencing years before the Balkan Wars began draining its treasury further.