Larin / Tawilah

The larin form — wire coiled into a fishhook shape — originated in southern Iran and spread across Gulf trade routes as a practical medium for merchants who could test purity by straightening and biting the metal. The Bani Khalid, who dominated the al-Ahsa region of eastern Arabia through the 17th and 18th centuries, issued these as a regional adaptation of that itinerant currency tradition. Billon content varied considerably across Gulf larin issues, and this piece's silver-copper mix places it firmly in the debased end of the spectrum — a pragmatic response to chronic bullion shortages along the Arabian coast.