CRUSADERS. Christian Arabic Dirhams. Dirham (Silver, 23 mm, 2.74 g, 4 h), Akka (Acre), 1251. Cross pattée in center within dotted circle; around within square, 'Allah wahid huwa, al-iman wahid, al-ma 'mudiyya wahid ('one God, one faith, one baptism'); in outer margin, 'duriba bi-Akka / sana alf wa-/mi 'atayn wa-ahad / wa-khamsin l-tajassud' ('struck in Acre in the year one thousand two hundred, one and fifty, of the Incarnation'); all in Arabic.
Rev. 'al-ab wa'l-ibn / wa'l-rih al qudus / ilah wahid' ('The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One Divinity') within double square; in outer margin, 'lahu al-majd / ila abad / al-abadin / amin amin' ('His is the glory, forever and ever, amen, amen'); all in Arabic. Bates & Metcalf 55. Malloy 13. Metcalf, Crusades, 227. Wäckerlin 227. Very rare and exceptionally complete. Extremely fine.
From the Tabib Collection, formed over the past 40 years.
This short-lived issue of dirhams and half dirhams bearing a cross and 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 vaguer 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 offend neither the Muslim nor the Christian population of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
