Abbasi (currency)

ʿAbbāsī (Persian: عباسی) was a name applied to gold and silver coins in Iran first issued by the Safavid Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629). It was in use until the early 20th century. These coins bore no face values and were passed by weight.[1]

While the Iranian abbasi was also widespread in eastern Georgia,[2] which was under the Iranian sway, the coin soon after also came to be minted at the mint in Tiflis (Tbilisi),[3] where they were colloquially known as abazi.[3]

After the Russian annexation of eastern Georgia in 1801, abbasi denominations (one-half abbasi--Muhammad; one quarter abbasi--shahi; one-tenth abbasi--bisti; 1/200th abbasi--dinar) influenced production of the new currency, the Georgian silver (kartuli tetri).[3]

  1. ^ P. Avery, B. G. Fragner, J. B. Simmons (15 December 1982), "ʿAbbāsī", in: Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 1, p. 86. Iranica Online (Last Updated: July 13, 2011). Accessed 9 July 2015.
  2. ^ Mikaberidze 2015, p. 61.
  3. ^ a b c Mikaberidze 2015, p. 62.