A silver coin, the akçe was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. Three akçes was equal to one para. One-hundred and twenty akçes equaled one kuruş. Later the kuruş became the main unit of account, replacing the akçe. In the 1870s the kuruş was replaced by the lira.

The Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul is said to have cost 59 million akçe when it was constructed in the 1550s. This amount is said to have equaled 700 000 ducats in gold (probably Venetian).