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Mahallak - Abdallah
| Issuer | Emirate of Harar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1886-1887 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Brass |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Reverse description | Three lines of Arabic legend filling the central field, surrounded by a dotted circular border that follows the outline of the dodecagonal flan. The inscription identifies the denomination and issuing authority, rendered in a bold, informal hand characteristic of provincial Harari coinage. |
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| Additional information |
The Emirate of Harar's brass coinage was produced during the final years of the emirate's independence, just before Egyptian withdrawal left the city exposed. Abdallah II, the last emir, ruled under mounting pressure from Menelik II's expanding Ethiopian empire. These small-denomination mahallak pieces circulated in a city that would fall to Menelik's forces in January 1887 — making the window of issue extremely narrow.
Harar's indigenous coinage is among the rarest of any sub-Saharan Islamic polity.