Catalog
Falus - Anonymous Ganja
| Issuer | Ganja, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1711 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Falus |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A lion passant facing right occupies the central field, rendered in a bold, somewhat stylized manner typical of provincial Islamic coinage. A floral motif, likely a stylized flower or rosette, appears above the lion's back. The flan is irregular and the surfaces show characteristic roughness of hammered copper coinage. The overall design is executed in low relief with minimal detail in the exergue. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse bears a multi-line Arabic inscription filling the entire field, giving the mint name and date in stylized script. The legend is arranged in several registers across the flan and reads 'Fulus, struck in Ganja, year 1123' (AH), corresponding to 1711 CE. The script is executed in a cursive, somewhat crude hand characteristic of locally struck provincial copper coinage. The irregular flan results in partial legend at the margins. |
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| Additional information |
Ganja — present-day Gəncə in Azerbaijan — was an administrative and commercial hub under successive Safavid and Ottoman contests for the South Caucasus. By 1711 the city sat in contested territory, and anonymous copper falus of this type were struck without ruler attribution, a practice that allowed local coinage to remain in circulation regardless of which power held the city at any given moment. The anonymity was pragmatic, not ceremonial.