The Hafsids of Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli. temp. abu-‘Abd Allah Muhammad I b. Yahya, AH 647-675 (1249-1277 CE). AV Dinar, no mint name or date, c. AH 650-675 (1263-1277 CE). 4,75g. Hazard, Numismatic History of Late Medieval North Africa, New York 1952, 564.
Extremely fine and very rare.
This beautifully inscribed coin in ornamented Kufic script is characteristic of the coinage of Islamic North Africa in the sixth century of the Hijra. While all Hafsid dinars lacked dates, some of them bear mint names in tiny letters showing them to have been struck in the cities of Bijaya in north-east Algeria, Tunis and Tripoli. These coins were carefully struck on broad flans, in a square in circle pattern, with the names of rulers in the central square, and four segments around bearing more titles, including the name of the Hafsid ruler Muhammad I and his forebears. The elaborate script makes the legends difficult for most people to read, but they are very pleasing to the eye.
Price realized | 4'600 CHF |
Starting price | 2'000 CHF |