? 1996-1997 yılı hatıra paraları

Turks have been issuing metal coins since 9th century , when they first settled in the vast plains of the Middle East and Anatolia. Many different states had coins of their own and the place where they issued coins was called 'Mint'. However, the mint that was established by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror near the Beyazıt Mosque following his conquest of Istanbul, is accepted as the first 'Turkish Mint'. We don't have a document relating to its year of foundation, therefore 1476 is taken to be the start of Turkish minting, when Fatih had the first gold coin minted in the name of himself. Capacity was later increased and the mint was moved to the Simkeşhane Caravanserai in Beyazıt in 1596.

To meet the increasing coin demand of the fastly expanding Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Istanbul, as many as 40 auxiliary mints were established. Among these, the most important ones were in Bursa, Edirne, Amasya, Erzurum, Tiflis, Egypt, Tunusia, and Algeria. Istanbul continued to be the principal city of mintage, and the other mints were closed in 1843. Coins are issued only here in Istanbul since then.

The Mint was moved to its current buildings in Topkapı Palace from the Simkeşhane Caravanserai in 1723, under the rule of Sultan Ahmet III. After that, it was enlarged by the addition of new workshops and "HÜNKAR DAİRESİ" in the garden, in 1832.

Preliminary work on the opening of the third mint facility, which is the current one in Yıldız-Beşiktaş, dates back to 1953. Metal coin demand was projected to increase in the following years, therefore new equipment was purchased. Construction of the new building started in mid-1961, and production began on July 8, 1967.

History archieves show that the first three government organizations of the Ottoman Empire where the (TOPHANE), which produced cannons for the army, the (TERSANE), which produced warships, and the (DARPHANE) which produced metal coins for the Treasury.

So valuable in the historical and traditional sense, the mint directorate was joined with the state printing office in 1933. Now the "Printing Plant" this institution was founded in 1845 to print security documents and is currently situated in the Topkapı Palace zone. Renovation and modernization of the printing complex is going on. When completed, it will be the most sophisticated facility in Turkey and its neighbours, with state-of-the- art technology.