S E Q 



OClirift, be it (this coin) given, becaufe thou governeft (uni- 

 vcrfally;. He, St. Mark, governs the duchy. Muratori 

 doubts tliis interpretation, and fuppofes that ijle might 

 have been originally tpfe. The legend, however, is curious, 

 as being both an hexameter verfe and a monkifh rhyme. 

 The half and quarter fequins bear the fame impreflions, 

 but the legend on the reverfe is. Ego fum lux miiiidi, i. e. 

 I am the light of the world. 



At Cochin, on the Malabar coaft, Venetian fequins are 

 worth 72 fanams, of which 20 are reckoned for a rupee. 

 At Goa, Venetian fequins are worth 16 good tangas, each 

 of which is worth about ']\d. fterling. At Surat, the 

 weight of a Venetian fequin is reckoned at <^\ vails, of 

 which 82^ make i oz. troy. 



The gold coins of Turkey are the fequin or chequeen, 

 called the fequin fonducli, coined in the year 1764; 100 

 of thefe weigh no Turkifh drachms, or 5415 Englifli 

 grains, and they are about 23 carats fine. The fequin 

 fonducli at Conftantinople pafled at firfi; for 3I piaftres, or 

 440 afpers ; but its price was gradually raifed to 4 piallres. 

 In 1 769 molt of them were called in for a new coinage. 

 There is another fequin, called mahbub, or zermahbub, or 

 gingerly ; the nisfie, or half mahbub ; and the roubbie, 

 or one-third ditto: 100 mahbubs, 200 nisfies, or 300 

 roubbies, were to weigh 82^ Turkifh drachms, or 4061 

 Englifh grains : they were at firll 22 carats fine, but in 1781 

 were reduced to 19I: carats; and in fubfequent coinages 

 they have been ftill more debafed. Venetian fequins pafs at 

 prelent for gi piallres. At Alexandria in Egypt the fe- 

 quin, called funduclee, is worth 146 medini ; that called 

 zumabob is valued at 120 medini, 40 medini being = a 

 piaflre. At Grand Cairo in Egypt, contrafts are made in 

 funducli and mahbub fequins ; the former are reckoned at 

 146 medini, and 3 mahbubs are equal to 4 pataccas, fo 

 that the mahbub is worth 120 medini. The only coins al- 

 lowed by the Turkiih government to be ftruck at Cairo are 

 the mahbub (or zermahbub) fequins, and medini : 40 me- 

 dini arc valued at \()}^d. fterling, fo that the mahbub is 

 worth 4j. ()\d. fterling. Mahbubs, however, of inferior 

 value, are coined by the Beys in Egypt, and generally pafs 

 for 1 10 medini. The Turkifh coins are currt-nt at Patras 

 in the Morea. Some European gold ducats and fequins cir- 

 culate in Perfia. Tlie fequin fonducli of Conftantinople of 

 1773 is worfe than the Englifh ftandard : its affay is 2 car. 

 25 gr. ; its weight 2 du-t. 5|- gr. ; its contents in pure gold 

 43.4 gr., and its fterling value is. %\d. The fequin fon- 

 ducli of 1789 is alfo worfe than the Englifh flandard : its 

 aflay is 2 car. 3^ gr. ; its weight 2 dwt. 5f gr. ; its contents 

 in pure gold 42.9 gr., and its value 7^. l\d. The double 

 fequin mahbub of Conftantinople of 1773 is better than the 

 Englifli ftandard : its aflay is I car. ; its weight 3 dwt. 

 4:j gr. ; its contents in pure gold 73.1 gr., and its value 

 I2J. il\d. The fequin mahbub of 1 789 is worfe than the 

 Englifh ftandard : its aflay is 2 car. 3 gr. ; its weight i dwt. 

 12 gr.; its conti-nts in pure gold 28.9 gr., and its value 

 5^. I -If/. The fequin of Cairo of 1773 is alfo worfe than 

 the Englifh ftandard : its aftay is 3 car. 05 gr. ; its weight 

 I dwt. 15:5: gr.; its contents in pure gold 31 gr., and its 

 value Jj-. 55^. The fequin of Cairo of 1789 is alfo worfe 

 than the Englifli ftandard : its aflay is 5 car. 2^ gr. ; its 

 weight I dwt. 15^ gr. ; its contents in pure gold 26.9 gr., 

 and its value 4^. ()^d. 



As the repreiViitation of men and animals is forbidden by 

 the Mahometan law, the Turkifh coins have no other im- 

 preflions than infcriptions Haling the names, titles, defcent, 

 &c. of their fultans, with the date of the liegira, or Ma- 

 hometan era. They are in the Arabic language, and the 



S E R 



following tranflations from the principal coins of lultan 

 Selim ( 1789) may ferve as a fpecimen, as there is but little 

 variety in the form or ftyle of thefe compofitions. 



The fequin mahb\ib has on one fide, " Sultan Selim, fon 

 of Muftafa Khan, may he be victorious, and his valour be 

 bleft, ftruck at Slambul (Conftantinople) in the year 

 1203 '" and on the reverfe, " S.iltan of the two lands, and 

 fovereign of the two feas, fultan by inheritance, fon of a 

 fultan." The words, " May he be viftorious, and his 

 valour be bleft," arc nccafionally ufed by the Turks at the 

 end of their prayers. By the " two lands," are meant 

 Europe and Afia ; and by the " two feas," the Black fea 

 and the Archipelago. The latter is alfo called here the 

 White fea. 



The fequin fonducli has on one fide, " Sultan Selim, fon 

 of Muftafa Khan ;" and on the reverfe, " Struck at Slam- 

 bul, in the year i 203." 



The impreflions of fequins of difl'erent periods moftly 

 anfwer to either of the foregoing defcriptions ; but the fe- 

 quins coined at Cairo, under fultan Abdulhamid in 1773, 

 have their infcriptions as follows : " Sultan Abdulhamid, 

 fon of Ahmed Khan, may his valour be bleft, ftruck in 

 Egypt in the year 1187 ;" and on the reverfe, the titles as 

 on the fequin mahbub of Selim. 



The pieces of two, three, four, and five fequins bear the 

 fame infcriptions as the fingle fequin, and they are fomc- 

 times alfo encircled with ornaments. 



The fequins of the Barbary itates are coined in the name 

 of the grand feignior, and are only diftinguiflied by the 

 words, " Struck at Tunis, Tripoli," &c. They bear on 

 the reverfe the titles as on the fequin mahbub of Selim. 

 Kelly's Un. Cambift. 



SERA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Serica, which 

 had the title of metropohs, according to Ptolemy. 



Seua, in Geography, a town of Hindoollan, and capital 

 of a diftrift, once a confiderable fubah, conquered by Hyder 

 Ali ; taken from the dominions of his fon Tippoo, and 

 given to the Nizam in the year 1800; 58 miles N.W. of 

 Bangalore. N. lat. 13° 28'. E. long. 75° 54'.— Alfo, a 

 town of Hindooftan, in Guzerat ; 24 miles S. of Dunger- 

 pour. 



Sera Capriola, a town of Naples, in the province of 

 Capitanata ; 14 miles S.S.E. of Terniola. 



SERAB, a diltria of Adirbeitzan, or Azerbijan, and 

 a town, 15 miles E. of Tabris. 



SERABIS, in Ancient Geography, a river of Hifpania, 

 in the Tarragonenfis. Ptolemy. 



SERACH, in the Turiijh Military Orders, an officer 

 who holds the llirrup of the caia of the janizaries in charge, 

 attends him when he goes out on horfeback, and ferves him 

 as a mefi'enger on all occafions. After this office he has the 

 title of chous ; and after he has pafled through this, he has 

 the fame office under the aga of the janizaries. Pococke's 

 Egypt, p. 168. 



SERACONYA, in Geography, a town of Bengal; 38 

 miles E.S.E. of Iflamabad. 



SERACORRO, a town of Africa, in Bambarra ; 80 

 miles W.N.W. of Sego. 



SERAES, or Serkas, a town of Perfia, in the pro- 

 vince of Khorafan ; 180 miles N.N.W. of Herat, The 

 Tedzen has its fource near this place. 



SERAFINI, in Biography, an Italian finger with a 

 feeble foprano voice, but fo good an after, that in 1754, 

 when Metallafio's " Attilio Regolo," fet by Halfe, was 

 performed in London, in tlie lall icene of this opera, which 

 ends with an accompanied recitative, without an air, he 

 was coiiftautly encored : but perhaps it was the poet who 

 L 1 2 was 



