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Qirat - Ali ibn Yusuf avec émir Sir
| Issuer | Almoravid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1128-1139 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Reverse description | Hammered reverse displaying a four-line Arabic inscription filling the field, referencing the Almoravid ruler Ali ibn Yusuf and the emir Sir in bold Kufic script. The legend is arranged horizontally across the coin, with the text reading 'May God support the Commander of the Muslims, Ali, and the Emir Sir.' The strike is characteristic of Almoravid small silver coinage, with slightly overlapping letters and minor weakness at the flan edges. A plain border ring frames the inscription. The silver surface exhibits natural wear and oxidation consistent with circulated hammered coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Ali ibn Yusuf ruled the Almoravid empire at its greatest territorial extent, but his reign was defined increasingly by military pressure from the Almohad movement rising out of the Atlas Mountains. The qirat — a fractional denomination — was the workhorse of small commercial transactions across al-Andalus and the Maghreb, where gold dinars were simply too valuable for everyday exchange. The inclusion of a subordinate emir's name alongside the caliph's on so small a flan reflects the Almoravid administrative habit of acknowledging provincial governors on coinage, a practice that also complicates attribution for modern specialists.