ottomane or

Dans "A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire", qqes mots d'histoire pour situer la place de l'Algérie (pp. 108-109)

Algeria

Gold sultanis began to be minted in Algiers in the 1520s soon after the Turkish corsairs obtained control of the city. Thanks to its trading links and access to Saharan gold, Algiers soon became one of the leading locations for sultani production in the Empire. In the second half of the sixteenth century, there emerged another mint in Algeria issuing gold coins in the name of the Ottoman sultan. The conquest of Oran in the west by the Spanish in 1509 and of Algiers by the Ottomans in 1516 had left the Ziyanid rulers of Tilimsan in an ambiguous position between these two powers. After nominal rule by the Ziyanid until the middle of the century, the Ottomans took over appointing a new governor in 1556. There followed a series of gold coins until 1603 struck in the names of the Ottoman sultans but not adhering to the standards of the sultani. The general design of the Tilimsan gold coins followed the twelfth century pattern introduced by the Muwahhids which subsequently became the standard for all Maghribi gold coinage until the sixteenth century. This difference between Tilimsan and Algiers gold coinage may be due to a difference in the administrative status of the two places, but the nature of Ottoman administration in Tilimsan has not been adequately studied.

In contrast to gold, issues of mostly square-shaped silver coinage called akce or asper remained limited in Algeria until the eighteenth century. Their silver content declined during the sixteenth century judging from the sliding exchange rate against the sultani and European coins. In 1580, 175 akces exchanged for one sultani; by 1617, one sultani equaled 350 akces. Copper coinage called harruba or "bourbe'" by Europeans was also issued. These coins were initially issued in fractions of the akce but with the depreciation of the latter, the nominal values of copper coinage were raised.

The Spanish eight-real piece or the piaster emerged as the leading means of exchange in Algeria during the early part of the seventeenth century. Its exchange rate remained unchanged at 232 akces for most of the seventeenth century. However, this constant rate should not be taken as a sign of stability of the silver coin. Much more likely, the square akce disappeared mostly or entirely and remained a unit of account until the end of the seventeenth century.