CRUSADERS. Christian Arabic Dirhams. Dirham (Silver, 21 mm, 2.75 g, 12 h), Akka (Acre), 1251. Within a square, ‘Allāh wāḥid huwa / al-īmān wāḥid / al-maʿmūdiyya wāḥida’ (‘God is one, the faith is one, the baptism is one’ in Arabic; cf. Ephesians 4:5); in the margin, ‘[ḍuriba bi ʿAkkā sana / alf wa miʾatayn] / aḥad wa khamsīn / [li-tajassud al-masīḥ]’ (‘Struck in ʿAkka in the year 1251 of the incarnation of the Messiah’ in Arabic); and three fleurs-de-lys. Rev. Within a square, ‘al-ab wa al-ibn / wa al-rūḥ al-qudus / ilāh wāḥid’ (‘The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: One Divinity’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘lahū al-majd / [ilā abad / al-abadīn / āmīn āmīn] (‘His is the glory forever and ever, amen, amen’ in Arabic) and three fleurs-de-lys. Bates & Metcalf, 57. CCS 17. Metcalf, Crusades, -. Wäckerlin 239. Extremely rare with fleurs-de-lys. Minor edge cracks and with light deposits, otherwise, good very fine.

The appearance of the fleurs-de-lys on this extremely rare issue is very likely connected to the presence of Louis IX of France in Acre, where he resided in 1250-1251 after his release from Mamluk captivity. Louis was the leader of the Seventh Crusade, during the course of which a large Christian force invaded Egypt in 1249, but he was utterly defeated and captured by the Mamluks in early 1250, who set him and his entourage free after 31 days for a colossal ransom of 200,000 gold bezants.