. イタリア、サレルノまたはアマルフィ Tari 10-11th Century

Southern Italy – Duchy of Amalfi or Principality of Salerno – Gold Tarì (¼ Dinar), late 10th–early 11th century

Gold, 1.01 g – 11.9 mm
Cf. Spinelli, Tav. IA:4–5
Condition: VF / approximately II-
Exceptionally well preserved for this rare and usually very crudely struck type.

A fascinating and historically important gold tarì, struck in southern Italy, most probably in Amalfi or Salerno, during the second half of the 10th or the beginning of the 11th century.

The tarì was the characteristic gold denomination of medieval southern Italy. Its name derives from the Arabic ṭarī, and the denomination developed under the strong economic and monetary influence of the Islamic Mediterranean. In practice, these coins represented approximately one quarter of an Arab dinar and became an essential part of long-distance trade linking southern Italy with Sicily, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.

Both sides of this specimen display the distinctive concentric Arabic legends, following the monetary design introduced by the Fatimid caliph al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah Abu Tamim in AD 952. This arrangement, with inscriptions organized in circular bands rather than around a central figural image, became one of the most recognizable features of Fatimid gold coinage and was subsequently imitated in southern Italy.

Obverse:
The inner legend contains the Islamic profession of faith, the Kalima:

lā ilāha illā Allāh, Muḥammad rasūl Allāh
“There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

The outer circular inscription includes the date written in words. Although only partially preserved, it appears to end in …87, which could possibly correspond to AH 387 = AD 997/998.

The unusually large surviving portions of the outer legends, together with the comparatively regular and only slightly corrupted Arabic inscriptions, strongly suggest that this piece belongs to an early phase of the South Italian tarì series. Later imitative issues generally became increasingly stylised and pseudo-Arabic.

The historical background of these coins is particularly fascinating. Genuine Islamic gold coins from Egypt and North Africa circulated widely in southern Italy, where they were valued for both their gold content and their role in Mediterranean commerce. Local rulers in the Lombard principalities and maritime centres therefore began producing their own imitations. Medieval documents refer to such coins as tarì buttumini.

These issues are a remarkable testimony to the intense cultural and commercial contacts between Christian southern Italy and the Islamic Mediterranean around the year 1000. Despite being produced in Christian-ruled territories, they deliberately retained Arabic inscriptions and Islamic monetary formulas because of the enormous prestige and acceptance of Islamic gold currency in Mediterranean trade.

This specimen is especially attractive because of its small, compact flan, strong gold colour and unusually extensive surviving inscriptions. Coins of this type are frequently encountered with heavily blundered legends, irregular striking or substantial loss of the peripheral inscriptions; the present piece is therefore exceptionally well preserved for the type.

A highly evocative medieval gold coin from one of the most culturally dynamic regions of Europe, combining Lombard Italy, Byzantine influence and the monetary traditions of the Fatimid Islamic world in a single object.

Attribution: Southern Italy, probably Amalfi or Salerno
Denomination: Tarì / ¼ Dinar
Date: late 10th–early 11th century, possibly AH 387 / AD 997–998
Metal: Gold
Weight: 1.01 g
Diameter: 11.9 mm
Reference: cf. Spinelli, Tav. IA:4–5
Condition: VF / II-, exceptionally fine for the type