Ömer Diler (1945,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

– 18 March 2005, Istanbul) was a Turkish

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

specializing in Islamic coins. His posthumous book ''Ilkhans'' is the definitive work on the coinage of the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

. Ömer Diler was trained as a

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

but became interested in numismatics in 1972 when he received a rare gold coin of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

as a gift. He wrote a number of articles for the Turkish Numismatic Society (''Türk Numismatik Derneği'') and was also a contributing editor of the

American Numismatic Society The American Numismatic Society (ANS) is a New York City-based organization dedicated to the study of coins, money, medals, tokens, and related objects. Founded in 1858, it is the only American museum devoted exclusively to their preservation ...

. In 1981, Diler published a book with Garo Kürkman on the coinage of the

Anatolian beylik Anatolian beyliks ( tr, Anadolu beylikleri, Ottoman Turkish: ''Tavâif-i mülûk'', ''Beylik'' ) were small principalities (or petty kingdoms) in Anatolia governed by beys, the first of which were founded at the end of the 11th century. A secon ...

of 'Alâiye. His 2001 work ''Şehir Lakapları'' (''Titles and Epithets of Islamic Towns'') represents a major contribution to the knowledge of the orthography and locations of Islamic

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

towns. This work has become the standard reference on the subject. In 1993 at the suggestion of Cüneyt Ölçer, Diler began work on what would become a comprehensive book on the coinage of the

. With more than 250 confirmed mints and a geographical distribution including

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and large parts of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

, and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, the project consumed the last twelve years of Diler's life. When he died of lung cancer in 2005, the book remained unfinished. Final editing fell to his wife, Emine Nur, Garö Kürkman, and the Bremen-based numismatist, Johann-Christoph Hinrichs. ''Ilkhans: coinage of the Persian Mongols'' appeared in both Turkish and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

versions in 2006. It includes 838 drawing and twelve plates of high quality photographs.

Books

* Garo Kürkman and Ömer Diler, ''Alâiye paraları'' (''Coinage of 'Alâiye''), Yenilik Basımevi, Istanbul 1981 * Omer Diler, ''Şehir Lakapları'' (''Titles and Epithets of Islamic Towns''), Istanbul 2001. * Ömer Diler, ''Ilkhans: Coinage of the Persian Mongols'', Istanbul 2006.

External links

Index to online publications of the Turkish Numismatic Society including twelve short articles by Ömer Diler.
Turkish numismatists Turkish chemical engineers 1945 births 2005 deaths Deaths from lung cancer {{coin-stub