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Dirham - al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf - Saladin Damascus
| Issuer | Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1180-1193 |
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| Currency | Dinar (1169-1254) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central square frame, echoing the obverse layout, enclosing a multi-line Arabic legend in Naskh script identifying the ruler and his titles, arranged in horizontal registers within the square. An inner dotted border delineates the central square from the surrounding annular zone, which carries a circular Arabic inscription with the mint and date formula. The hammered flan displays characteristic irregular edges and slightly uneven strike pressure typical of medieval Islamic silver dirhams. |
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| Reverse lettering | الناصر صلاح الدين يوسف أمير المؤمنين |
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| Additional information |
Saladin's Damascus dirhams occupy a politically charged position in Ayyubid numismatics. He struck coins in Damascus only after consolidating control over Syria in 1174 — seized opportunistically following the death of Nur ad-Din — and the Damascus mint served partly as a statement of legitimacy to a city still skeptical of Ayyubid authority. The inclusion of the Abbasid caliph's name on the coinage was not devotion but diplomacy: Saladin needed Baghdad's nominal endorsement while pursuing an agenda Baghdad never fully controlled.
Bal I#90 is among the more frequently encountered types of his Syrian issues, though specimens without flat areas from worn dies are harder to find than mintage alone would suggest.