Crusader Imitation of Islamic Fatimid Gold Dinar

WillieBoyd2 · October 23, 2016 4:36PM

Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem gold Bezant
Specs: 20mm, 3.90gm, struck AD 1148-1187

In 1099 when the Pope launched the Crusades, gold coins had not been struck or used Europe for centuries.

When the Crusaders arrived in the Holy Land they discovered that gold coins were used there, either Byzantine issues or coins made by the Moslem Fatimid empire in Cairo, Egypt.

Crusaders established kingdoms in Palestine, including the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and began minting gold coins.

These coins were copies of Moslem Fatimid coins, down to the Kufic legends promoting Islam as the true religion. Kufic was a form of Arabic writing used at the time. Most of the copies used the design of the Fatimid king al-Amir who ruled AD 1101-1130. The first coins were direct copies, as time went on the legends became less clear.

The Crusader imitations became called Saracenic Bezants, as Bezant was a term applied to a gold coin of the Byzantine empire.

The Fatimid coins were better than 95% gold and weighed around 4.25 grams. The Crusader coins were struck at Jerusalem or at nearby Acre, started at 80% gold and weighed less than 4.0 grams, and later went to 68% gold and weighing 3.25 to 3.5 grams.

The coin above is considered by numismatists to be a "second phase" coin (the 80% variety). It was made from around AD 1148 to AD 1187, when the Islamic forces of Saladin destroyed a large Crusader army at Hattin and headed for Jerusalem. This coin has poor legends and it is impossible to read the original date.

A major Crusader coin catalog is Coins of the Crusader States 1098-1291, known as CCS, by Malloy, A.G., Preston, I.F. and Seltman, A.J., published in 2004. The closest catalog coin to this one is page 116 number 3.

The coin legends would be, if they were clearer, from inside to outside:

Obverse:
Outer ring: There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah
Inner ring: Muhammad is the messenger of God who sent him with guidance and the religion of truth...
Field: High Destination (Cairo)

Reverse:
Outer ring: In the name of God, this dinar was struck in Misr... (Misr is Egypt or Cairo)
Inner ring: Ali is the most excellent of the caretakers and the vizier...
Field: Iman al-Mansur (al-Amir)

In AD 1250 Pope Innocent IV (AD 1243-1254) ordered the Crusaders to stop making coins with Islamic legends and they began putting Christian legends on their coins.

An odd reason for wanting a coin, but after reading Harold Lamb's books on the Crusades, I had to get one.