Medieval, Crusaders Era Silver Millarés — Christian Imitation of an Almohad Dirham

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AR Millarés, Christian Imitation of an Almohad Dirham. Anonymous issue, uncertain mint.

-> During the Crusader era and the Spanish Reconquista, the silver square dirhams issued by the Muslim Almohad Caliphate were the dominant and most widely trusted currency in Mediterranean merchant circuits. To trade effectively for goods, gold, and resources with North African Islamic states, Western European powers began minting their own copies.

Obverse: stylised Arabic inscription in three lines within a square linear and beaded border.
Reverse: stylised Arabic inscription in three lines within a square linear and beaded border.

Size: ± 17.1 x 16.9 mm
Weight: ± 1.29 g
VF

Certificate of Authenticity (PDF) is available upon request for all lots with a hammer price of €100 or higher.


-> The millarés was a Christian imitation of the distinctive square silver dirhams issued by the Almohad Caliphate. These imitations were struck during the 13th century in several Christian-controlled centres around the western Mediterranean, particularly in the Crown of Aragon, southern France and Italy. They were produced primarily to facilitate commerce with the Muslim states of North Africa, where Almohad silver was widely accepted.

Although their appearance closely follows that of the original dirhams, the Arabic inscriptions are often crudely copied, garbled or partly meaningless, suggesting that many of the Christian die engravers could not read the script. The millarés therefore provides fascinating material evidence of the extensive trade and cultural interaction that continued between the Christian and Islamic worlds despite their political and religious conflicts.


-> The coins minted by the Almohad Caliphate have Arabic script showing mint marks and declarations of faith. They are usually anonymous, meaning that they are not attributable to any single ruler.

Numerous theories have emerged regarding the square shape of these coins. While their form indeed facilitated cutting them from larger pieces of silver, most believe that the square shape was a deliberate design decision.

These square shaped silver dirham coins are typical of the Almohad period when the Almohad Dynasty controlled much of Northern Africa and Spain. They were the most powerful force in North Africa since the Roman Empire.

The Almohads transferred the capital of Muslim Iberia from Córdoba to Seville where they founded a great mosque and built the Al-Muwarak palace (modern-day Alcázar of Seville).

In the 12th century two major Muslim powers made a strategic alliance to face the Christian Crusades. The Almohad Caliphate established a partnership with Sultan Saladin's Ayyubid Egypt. This resulted in the siege and capture of Jerusalem in 1187 AD by the united forces under Saladin.
An Almohad battalion also participated in attacks against Christians and tried to take Constantinople.

In al-Andalus the Almohad Caliphate was defeated by the combined Christian forces of Portugal, Castile, and Aragon at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, in 1212 AD. Their power continued to decline and by 1270 the Almohads were no longer a force of any significance.