Akçe

---

title: "Akçe" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["coins-of-the-ottoman-empire", "silver-coins", "medieval-currencies", "turkish-words-and-phrases"] description: "Chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire" topic_path: "geography/turkey" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akçe" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox currency"]

Field	Value
name	Akçe
local_name	آقچه
local_name_lang	ota
obsolete	yes
image_1	File:Orhan Gazi Akçe.jpg
image_title_1	Akçe of Orhan
title	Various
::

| name = Akçe | local_name = آقچه | local_name_lang = ota | obsolete = yes | image_1 = File:Orhan Gazi Akçe.jpg | image_title_1 = Akçe of Orhan | using_countries = | title = Various | Anatolian Beyliks | Aq Qoyunlu | Crimean Khanate | Ottoman Empire}}

The akçe or akça (anglicized as akche, akcheh or aqcha; ; , , in Europe known as asper) was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states including the Anatolian Beyliks, the Aq Qoyunlu, and the Crimean Khanate. The basic meaning of the word is "silver" or "silver money", deriving from the Turkish word ak () and the diminutive suffix -ça.

Cost

Three akçes were equal to one para. One-hundred and twenty akçes equalled one kuruş. Later after 1687 the kuruş became the main unit of account, replacing the akçe. In 1843, the silver kuruş was joined by the gold lira in a bimetallic system. Its weight fluctuated; one source estimates it between 1.15 and 1.18 grams. The name akçe originally referred to a silver coin but later the meaning changed and it became a synonym for money.

History

| align = right | direction = horizontal | image1 = Akçe of Murad II Obverse.JPG | width1 = 200 | image2 = Akçe of Murad II Reverse.JPG | width2 = 200 | footer = Obverse (left) and reverse (right) Murad II's akçe, AD

The mint in Novo Brdo, a fortified mining town in the Serbian Despotate rich with gold and silver mines, began to strike akçe in 1441 when it was captured by the Ottoman forces for the first time.

The Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul is said to have cost 59 million akçe when it was constructed in the 1550s. This amount is said to have equalled 700,000 ducats in gold (probably Venetian).

Debasement

Silver content and index in an Ottoman akçe. ::data[format=table]

Year	Silver (g)	Index
1450–60	0.85	100
1490–1500	0.68	80
1600	0.29	34
1700	0.13	15
1800	0.048	6
::

Value compared to the gold ducat of Venice by years:

::data[format=table]

Year	Ottoman akçes
1431	35
1475	45
1491	52
1547	60
1585	110
1645	160
1659	220
1660	300
1721	375
1728	400
1737	440
::

References

References

1. Grierson, Philip. (1991). "Asper". Oxford University Press.
2. "Coins from the tribal federation of Aq Qoyunlu".
3. "Akçe".
4. Sevket Pamuk, ''A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire'', Cambridge University Press, 2000, {{ISBN. 0-521-44197-8
5. (2013). "A History of Ottoman Economic Thought".
6. (1988). "Balkan studies". Édition de lA̕cadémie bulgare des sciences..
7. (2009). "Pre-Modern European Economy: One Thousand Years (10th-19th Centuries)". BRILL.
8. HALİL SAHİLLİOĞLU. "AKÇE: Osmanlılar’ın ilk gümüş para birimi ve ilk sikkesi.".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::