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Ashrafi - Abu Sa'id Qansuh I
| Issuer | Mamluk Sultanate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1498-1500 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a further multi-line Arabic inscription in thuluth calligraphy, distributed across three horizontal registers filling the coin's field. The legends, consistent with Mamluk ashrafi convention, likely contain the Shahada or Quranic formula alongside mint and regnal date information. The hammered flan shows characteristic surface irregularity and flow lines from the striking process. As is standard for late Mamluk gold coinage, no decorative border frames the inscriptions, which extend to the flan's edge. |
| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Abu Sa'id Qansuh I held the Mamluk sultanate for barely two years before being deposed and executed in 1500, one of several short-lived sultans cycled through Cairo's fractious amirs in the decade before the Ottoman conquest. His reign fell squarely in the period when Mamluk gold coinage was declining in fineness and trade credibility — the ashrafi, originally calibrated to compete with the Venetian ducat in Levantine commerce, had by this point lost much of the monetary trust that once made it a preferred tender from Alexandria to Aleppo.