CRUSADERS. Christian Arabic Dirhams. Half Dirham (Silver, 10x14 mm, 1.33 g, 5 h), Akka (Acre), 1251. 'Al-ab' ('The Father'); below, 'wa'l-ibn' ('The Son') within double square; in outer margin, 'lahu al-majd / ila abad / al-abadin / amin' ('His is the glory, forever and ever, amen'; all in Arabic). Rev. Small cross and inscription in two lines 'Wa'l-ruh / al-qudus' ('and the Holy Spirit') within double square; in outer margin, 'lahu al-majd / ila abad / al-abadin / amin' ('His is the glory, forever and ever, amen'; all in Arabic). Metcalf, Crusades, 232. MPS 18. Wäckerlin 242. Minor marks, otherwise, very fine.
This short-lived issue of dirhams and half dirhams bearing Christian legends in Arabic was introduced in 1251 as a reaction to an intervention by Odo of Chateauroux, Cardinal-Bishop of Tusculum (1244-1273) and Papal legate on the Seventh Crusade, who disapproved of the longstanding practice by the Kingdom of Jerusalem of imitating Ayyubid dirhams with their Muslim inscriptions and datings. Due to the lack of acceptance of the new Christian coins by the Muslim population in the Levant, the issue was replaced soon thereafter by dirhams bearing no cross and a more vague legend reading 'in the name of God the merciful, the compassionate'. This common monotheistic formula was in accordance with a decision by Pope Innocent IV (1243-1254), who in 1253 permanently forbade the naming of and dating after Mohammad on Christian coins. It was also vague enough, however, to neither offend the Muslim nor the Christian population of the Kingdom of Jerusalem