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1/2 Larin 'Kuda' - Al-Ghazi Muhammed Ghiya'as ud-din
| Issuer | Maldives |
|---|---|
| Year | 1772 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Hammered bronze flan bearing a multi-line Arabic inscription in the field, reading the sultan's name and title. The legend is arranged in three horizontal registers across the coin's surface, rendered in a cursive Arabic script typical of Maldivian coinage of the period. The coin exhibits an irregular, slightly octagonal shape characteristic of hand-struck Larin coinage. The inscription reads 'Al-Sultan Al-Ghazi Mohammad Iskandar' in raised relief against a flat field. |
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| Reverse description | Hammered reverse field bearing a three-line Arabic inscription arranged in horizontal registers across the flan. The legend records the Hijri regnal year 1186 and the sultan's title 'Sultan of the land and sea.' The script is cursive Arabic in the style typical of Maldivian hand-struck bronze issues, with the date numerals ١١٨٦ prominently centered within the inscription. The coin's irregular flan edges are consistent with the hand-hammered production technique common to Maldivian Larin coinage. |
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| Additional information |
The larin — originally a bent silver wire coinage used across the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean trade networks — had largely disappeared elsewhere by the eighteenth century, but the Maldives continued issuing derivatives of the form well into the 1700s. By Al-Ghazi Muhammed Ghiya'as ud-din's reign, the kuda (small) denomination had long since migrated to base metal, a reflection of the islands' limited silver access rather than any deliberate monetary reform.
Zeno 5079 documents this type from a sultanate whose numismatic output remains poorly catalogued in Western references.