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1/2 dirham - Anonyme
| Issuer | Hafsid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1300-1400 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Dirham (7⁄20) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Irregular square flan struck by hammer, bearing the Shahada in Arabic script arranged across the field in two lines: the first line reads 'لا إله إلا الله' (There is no god but God). The lettering is bold and angular, typical of the Maghribi Kufic style employed by Hafsid minters. The coin's small module and heavily worn surfaces are characteristic of fractional silver currency of the period. The field is flat with no border ornament, and the legends fill the available space without a formal frame. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | محمد رسول الله |
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| Additional information |
The Hafsids ruled from Tunis and at their fourteenth-century peak controlled the central Maghreb and commanded tribute from trans-Saharan trade routes. Anonymous fractions like this half-dirham were issued without a ruler's name deliberately — a practice rooted in periods of dynastic instability or contested succession, where naming a caliph on coinage carried political risk. The Hafsid fourteenth century was punctuated by exactly that: factional conflict between competing princes fractured the dynasty repeatedly after the death of Abu Yahya Abu Bakr in 1346.
KM# 102 at 0.33g represents the smallest practical silver denomination in Hafsid monetary circulation.