Catalog
1/2 Qirsh - Husayn
| Issuer | Hejaz, Kingdom of |
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| Year | 1916 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | The central field bears a multi-line Arabic inscription in flowing calligraphic script, enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The legend identifies the ruler Husayn ibn Ali as King of the Hejaz and Sharif of Mecca. An outer marginal legend in Arabic script encircles the beaded border, with additional text occupying the lower field. The numeral '٨' (8), denoting the regnal year, appears prominently in the lower portion of the field beneath the central inscription. |
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| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Husayn bin Ali proclaimed the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule in June 1916, and this bronze issue was among the first coinage struck under his authority as King of Hejaz — a title the Sharif had awarded himself weeks after raising the revolt. The pieces were minted in Cairo under British facilitation, Britain having every strategic reason to support a functioning Hashemite administration in the Hijaz as Ottoman power in the region collapsed.
The kingdom itself lasted barely a decade before Ibn Saud's Wahhabi forces swept through and absorbed Hejaz into what became Saudi Arabia in 1925.