1 Dirham - Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan

Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan ruled the Artuqid branch centered on Hisn Kayfa during one of the more turbulent stretches of Anatolian and Jaziran history, his reign overlapping with the Second Crusade and the sustained pressure of Zengid expansion under Nur ad-Din. The Artuqids occupied a precarious middle position — nominally vassals shifting allegiance between competing powers — and their copper coinage functioned within a regional economy where silver was scarce and Abbasid monetary authority largely nominal.

A#1820.3 places this piece within a catalogued die grouping for the type. Copper Artuqid dirhams from this period are frequently found with uneven flans, a consequence of local casting practices rather than deteriorating dies.