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Dinar - al-Zahir Yahya
| Issuer | Rasulid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1431 |
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| Currency | Dinar (1229-1454) |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by a multi-line Arabic religious legend arranged in stacked horizontal lines within an inner circle, typical of Rasulid dinar design. The inscription, rendered in fluid naskh script, incorporates the shahada and royal titulature of the issuing sultan. A circular marginal legend in Arabic script surrounds the central field, running along the coin's periphery. The flan is irregular and slightly cupped, characteristic of hammered medieval Islamic gold coinage. Strike is reasonably well-centered with some weakness at the outer margins. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a multi-line Arabic field legend in naskh script, arranged in horizontal registers across the central area of the irregular flan, conveying additional elements of the ruler's titulature and mint or date information. A circular marginal legend encircles the central inscription, continuing the epigraphic program characteristic of Rasulid gold coinage. The surface shows the typical flatness and flow lines of a hammered gold flan, with moderate die wear and some peripheral weakness. Overall the reverse is consistent with Yemen-struck Rasulid dinars of the fifteenth century. |
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| Additional information |
Al-Zahir Yahya ruled the Rasulid sultanate of Yemen for only a few years in the 1430s, a dynasty that had by then been in slow decline for decades following its peak under al-Ashraf Isma'il in the late fourteenth century. The Rasulids were unusual among medieval Islamic dynasties for the sophistication of their court scholarship — sultans wrote treatises on astronomy, agriculture, and medicine — but the coinage of the later reigns reflects diminishing resources rather than intellectual ambition.
By Yahya's reign, Rasulid control over key Red Sea trade revenues was increasingly contested, and gold issues from this period are correspondingly scarce.