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1 Fals - Zubair ibn 'Umar
| Issuer | Sultanate of Mogadishu |
|---|---|
| Year | 1401-1500 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 14 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse of this hammered bronze fals bearing an Arabic legend distributed across the irregular flan, partially visible due to weak strike and heavy wear. The inscription, characteristic of East African sultanate coinage of the 15th century, is rendered in an informal calligraphic style. The flan is uneven in thickness, with ragged edges typical of locally produced medieval Islamic minor coinage from the Mogadishu sultanate. |
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| Mintage | ND (1401-1500) - Struck circa 15th to 16th centuries |
| Additional information |
The Sultanate of Mogadishu was among the wealthiest entrepôt states on the Swahili Coast during the fifteenth century, its mint producing small bronze fulus that served the dense commercial traffic of the Indian Ocean trade network. Zubair ibn 'Umar is known from this coinage alone — no chronicle, no inscription, no traveler's account corroborates his rule, which is itself a common problem with the Mogadishu series, where numismatic evidence routinely outpaces the documentary record.