County of Tripoli. Bohémond IV of Antioch to Bohémond VII, 1187-1287. Bezant (Gold, 22 mm, 3.42 g, 4 h), imitating a dinar of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustanṣir. Crude third-phase imitation, circa 1240s-1250s. Large B flanked by pellets above Pseudo-Kufic legend; in outer margin, Pseudo-Kufic legend. Rev. Large T flanked by pellets above pseudo-Kufic legend and small cross in the second line of inscription; outer margin with pseudo-Kufic inscription. Bates & Metcalf 42. MPS 8. Metcalf, Crusades, 489. Wäckerlin 272. Very rare and interesting. Flan crack, otherwise, very fine.



The gold bezants of the County of Tripoli belong to a remarkable series of Crusader imitations derived from Fatimid dinars circulating widely in the eastern Mediterranean. Although the inscriptions had largely lost their original meaning to the engravers by this late phase, the general appearance of Islamic gold coinage was deliberately retained in order to facilitate commercial acceptance within regional trade networks accustomed to Fatimid monetary types.

On this crude third-phase series, the original Arabic inscriptions became progressively transformed into stylised pseudo-Kufic motifs. Particularly interesting is the apparent evolution of individual Arabic letters into Latin forms: the Arabic letter ʿayn from the Fatimid name Maʿadd seems to have developed into the prominent letter B on the obverse, while the name ʿAlī on the reverse was transformed into a form resembling the Latin letter T. These striking adaptations illustrate the gradual abstraction of Arabic epigraphy by non-Arabic-speaking engravers working within the Crusader states.