Nasrid of Granada, 1/4 Dirham

Started by maudry, August 19, 2020, 11:45:13 PM

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maudry

This should be an anonymous 1/4 Dirham of the Nasrids of Granada.
It is quite impressive how the caligraphy on these small coins is precise and how well they managed to center the strike on those tiny planchets.
Size:10X10mm
Weight: 0.42gr

Manzikert

Yes, according to my reference (Gomez, Monedas Hispano-musulmanas) this is as you say, an undated anonymous quarter dirhem struck in Granada (mintname is last line on lower image), Gomez 270. The variety is distinguished by the floral left end to the 'fi' at top left.

I am rather envious as I only have a very few half dirhems :)

Alan

aws22

#2
Dear maudry, your coin:
Nasrid Dynasty, Banu Nasr or Banu al-Ahmar, AR Square ¼ Dirham, Granada mint (AH 627-832/1230-1492 AD)
Obverse (First photo):
لا اله الا  , La Ilah Illa Allah,  There is no God except
الله محمد , Allah , Muhammad
رسول الله , Rasul Allah , is the messenger of God
Reverse (Second photo):
ضرب Zarb  , Struck
بمدينه , bi-Madinat (in-City). 
غرناطه  Granada
The Nasrid dynasty " بنو نصر‎ " Banu Naṣr or Banu al-Ahmar; was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula, ruling the Emirate of Granada from 1230 until 1492.

Maythem
Coin collecting has a curious name. It is also called the "Hobby of Kings".

Manzikert

Thank you for the transcription Maythem, but the middle line on the lower image is 'medinat' city, not  'al-Mulk Liallah', and there is no word after 'duriba fi' on the top line, it is just an ornamented 'fi'

Alan

aws22

#4
Thank you Alan, you are right about the word " bi-Madinat بمدينه " I misread it. I will replace the word " fi في " by adding the letter " bi ب " at the begining of the word Madinat.
Now it looks better, I have corrected my post.

Maythem
Coin collecting has a curious name. It is also called the "Hobby of Kings".

maudry

Thank you for your additional comments on this coin.
I wonder what technique they used to produce these tiny coins?
The coins I found on the net are quite well centered which must need a lot of accuracy.

Figleaf

I have asked myself the same question. Obviously, they were cut from a rectangular plate, which explains the border: they served as guides for where to cut. That also means they were struck before the planchets were cut. What got me doubting was the rounded corners. Cutting like this would make sharp corners that would play havoc with textile, leather and skin. One solution is making the coins slightly overweight and filing the corners down for ease of use and to get them to the correct weight.

The advantage of square cutting is that it doesn't require much skill. The disadvantage of this technique is that the filing process is labour intensive, especially compared with round coins.

The next question is, how were multiple coin plates struck? I long thought water power was a 16th century Austrian invention, but I have since seen that it was used much earlier by the Karakhanids. Water power would explain why these coins are generally well struck.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.