17. Fındıklı, c.1720s CE

The inheritance arrangements of Hermoza bt. Yosef Ḥazan were recorded in a legal query in Damietta where she died leaving no children as direct heirs. Therefore her nephews Yosef Mizraḥī and Ḥayyim Vialobos became eligible in the inheritance. Hermoza had been living with the latter in Cairo since the time of her divorce, from which she received 100 gold fındıklı as a partial value of her original dowry which was 18,000 silver medin. A date mentioned in the document of Sivan 5488 AM confirms that it was drawn up some time after June 1728 CE. Given that the fındıklı was first minted in 1725 CE, its mention in undated documents can be advantageous for estimating the period of origin. The coin's name literally means "hazlenut-like" in Turkish as a reference to its shape. [1]

[1] Şevket Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 167-168, 174.


"Inheritance Arrangements," JTS ENA NS 30.3r, c.1720s CE, Hebrew.

Images provided by the Jewish Theological Seminary Library (JTSL)

1 By [the assistance of The Name], | בע׳׳ה

2 since the honorable lady Hermoza daughter of the deceased Yosef Ḥazan, has died and did not leave after her an heir except for the two sons of her sisters: | בהיות שהיקרה מרת הרמוזה בת המנוח יוסף חזן נפטרה לב״ע וחל׳׳ש ולא השאירה אחריה בן עצר יורש אותה כי אם שני בני אחיותיה

3 the respectable, wise, and noble Ḥayyim Vialobos, may His Rock keep him and grant him life, who resides in Cairo, may God protect it, [son] of her predeceased sister Muwanis, may her soul rest in Eden, and [another nephew] the respectable, wise, and noble Yosef Mizraḥī… | ה׳׳ה היקר נבון ומעולה כמה׳׳ר חיים ביאלובוש יצ׳׳ו תושב מתא מצרים יע׳׳א מאחותה מוונס נ׳׳ע והיקר ונעלה כמה׳׳ר יוסף מזרחי יצ׳׳ו

4 who resides here in Damietta, may God protect it, [son] of her predeceased sister Marḥaba, and since the aforementioned lady Hermoza was residing in the home of the aforementioned [nephew] Ḥayyim | תושב מחנינו פה מתא קפוטקייא יע׳׳א מאחותה מרחבה נ׳׳ע ולהיות שהמרת הרמוזה הנז׳ היתה מתגוררת בבית ה׳׳ר חיים הנז׳

5 since the day she was divorced by her then husband Shelomoh Mujaydir and received from him the amount of her ketubba which was eighteen thousand m[edin] s[ilver] and received one hundred finduklis… | מיום שנתגרשה מבעלה שלמה מוג׳ידר וגבתה ממנו סכי כתובתה שהיא שמונה עשר אלף מ׳׳כ וקבלה מהם מאה פנדוקליס

(ed. Shmuel Glick, trans. Matthew Dudley)


Fındıklı in the Princeton Numismatic Collection (Coin: 16603)

Denomination: findik

Metal: Gold

Region: Ottoman Empire

Date: 1716 to 1730

Obverse Figure Description: Tughra

Workshop: ي

Size: 18 mm

Die Axis: 1

Weight: 3.47 grams

Shape: round

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