TARIH DERGISI, cilt.78, sa.3, ss.51-71, 2022 (ESCI)
Mines were the primary sources that fed the Imperial Mint as it minted money. As such, very important information about the mines, especially the silver mines, was recorded in the registers of the Ottoman Imperial Mint. Some of these records involve matters such as how much of the precious metal had been obtained from the mines, which mines these were, and the course of the increases and decreases in the mines' silver production. This research aims to reveal the silver production capacity of Ottoman mines and the place of the Ottoman Imperial Mint in money emission based on a group of Ottoman Imperial Mint registers that shed light on the years between 1766 and 1802. According to the results, the Ottoman Imperial Mint had converted 3,091 tons of silver into coins during this period, with about 7.5% of this having been provided from the mines. Among the mines that fed the Imperial Mint, the Anatolian mines, especially the Keban, Ergani, and Gumu;hane mines, had an important place. While the production of the other mines remained limited, these three mines had provided 92% of the total silver produced from mines.