Coins of the Ottoman Sultans Found in the Territory of the Czech Republic from 1996 to 2018

Abstract

Ottoman coins have been registered in the Czech Lands since the beginning of the 18th century and have been systematically documented since the mid-19th century. The latest actualization comes from 1996, but the following massive use of metal detectors showed a serious need for a new summarization. Up until 2018, some 151 hoards/ single finds with the Ottoman coins, forgeries, and jetons have been registered in the territory of the Czech Republic. These coins came to the mentioned territory via the Ottoman European expansion since the 16th century, and their flow reached its peak in the 17th century. The massive appearance of the Ottoman coins in Bohemia, partly in Moravia and Silesia, in the 17th century represents a phenomenon connected with the Thirty Years War. In south and central Moravia, it is explained by the direct military impact of the Ottoman armies. The later import of these coins is associated with the Napoleonic Wars and with the Austro-Hungarian period through its Balkan connection.