Arabia. Zuray'ids. In name of Sulayhid al-Mukarram Ahmad, Circa AH 507-532 / AD 1113-1138. 1/2 Dinar (Gold, 16 mm, 1.18 g, 8 h), Dhu Jibla, AH 532 = AD 1137/8. Shiʿa kalima, ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / ʿAlī walī Allāh’ (‘There is no deity but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Ali is the friend of Allah’ in blundered Arabic); citing the deceased Sulayhid ruler al-Mukarram Ahmad (AH 473-484 / AD 1081-1091) in the margin, ‘al-malik al-sayyid al-Mukarram ʿaẓīm al-ʿarab sulṭān amīr al-muʾminīn’ (‘The king, the lord, al-Mukarram, the chief of the Arabs, sultan under the Commander of the Believers’ in blundered Arabic). Rev. Citing the Fatimid caliph al-ʾAmir (AH 495-524 / AD 1101-1130), ‘al-imām al-Manṣūr / al-ʾĀmir bi-Aḥkām / Allāh amīr al-muʾminīn’ (‘Imam al-Mansur al-ʾAmir bi-Ahkam Allah [= He who commands Allah’s decrees], Commander of the Believers’ in blundered Arabic); in the margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi Dhū Jibla sana ithnayn wa thalāthīn wa khamsa miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dinar was struck in Dhu Jibla in the year 532’ in blundered Arabic). Album 1079F. Extremely rare. Slightly bent, some scratches and minor deposits, otherwise, good very fine.


Exceptionally rare. This remarkable issue was struck at Dhū Jibla in AH 532, naming in its inscriptions both the Fatimid caliph al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allāh and the long-deceased Sulayhid ruler al-Mukarram Aḥmad (d. AH 484), whose titulature continued to be used decades after his death. Such coins are traditionally attributed either to the later Sulayhid administration under Queen ʿArwā or to the early Zurayʿids, who assumed control in Yemen in the early 6th century AH while maintaining established Fatimid-aligned formulae. Half dinars of this date and mint are of the greatest rarity; only three specimens are presently known, including the present example. A highly important and historically significant Yemeni Fatimid-related gold issue.