1863 Tughra, 2 kurus

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Postage stamps were first issued by Great Britain in 1840 to regularize the payment of fees for letters sent through the postal system. Within a few years most European powers had issued stamps of their own. The Ottoman Empire was a late entry on January 1, 1863 with a stamp centered around the Tughra, the Turkish emblem of sovereignty and seal of the current sultan Abdülaziz I. Below the seal was an inverted crescent bearing the inscription "Devleti Aliye Osmaniye," or "The Sublime Ottoman Empire" in Turkish-Arabic script. Hilal, the very slight crescent moon visible after the new moon, was iconic in Islamic cultures as the hallmark of their lunar month.
The Tughra was used as a seal and signature for the sultan, and documents were not official without the seal. The designer was Sikkezenbachi Abdulfettah Efendi, born in 1814 at Chios (Sakiz) Island and brought to Istanbul as a slave at a very young age. He was trained as a calligrapher and employed by the Imperial Mint to design the first stamp for the realm. [http://www.stampsociety.com]

The Arabic calligraphy of the Tughra is quite complex.

1863 Tughra, 2 kurus