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Fals - al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf - Saladin Damascus
| Issuer | Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1174-1193 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3 g |
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| Obverse description | Outer border of pellets enclosing a counterclockwise Arabic marginal legend. An inner circle of pellets frames the central field, which bears a Kufic or Naskhi Arabic inscription arranged in horizontal lines. The design is characteristic of Ayyubid hammered copper coinage, with the legend invoking the ruler's titles and name. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Outer border of pellets enclosing a counterclockwise Arabic marginal legend, mirroring the obverse layout. An inner circle of pellets surrounds the central field, which carries a multi-line Arabic inscription typical of Ayyubid fals coinage, likely citing the Abbasid caliph's name or additional honorific titles of Saladin. The die-struck surfaces show the characteristic irregularity of hammered medieval Islamic coinage. |
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| Additional information |
Saladin's copper fals from Damascus occupy an awkward place in Ayyubid numismatics — struck during the years he was simultaneously consolidating Syria, fending off Crusader incursions, and rebuilding a fractured Zengid administrative structure. The Damascus mint had been producing copper under Nur ad-Din until 1174; Saladin inherited both the infrastructure and the obligation to keep small-denomination coinage flowing to a city that was commercially active and politically sensitive.
The Balog reference spread across six catalogue numbers reflects genuine die variety rather than editorial excess — the Damascus fals series under Saladin shows more titular and formulaic variation than almost any comparable copper issue of the period.