½ Qirat - Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn

Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn founded the Almoravid monetary system essentially from scratch after consolidating power across the Maghreb and into al-Andalus in the 1080s and 1090s. The fractional silver qirat denominations were a practical response to the fine-grained commercial economy of urban Andalusian markets, where larger gold dinars were ill-suited to daily transactions. These tiny pieces circulated hard in busy souks and rarely survived intact.

Vives 1539 is among the more elusive fractions of the type — the thin flan and minimal silver content made striking clean examples difficult, and losses to clipping were chronic.