Square Dirham 'Millarés' - Anonymous - 'Dirham imitation'

The millarès was a Christian imitation of Almohad square dirhams, struck by the Italian maritime republics and Aragonese mints specifically for trade with North Africa, where Almohad silver dominated commercial exchange. Genoa was producing them by the late twelfth century; the County of Provence and the Crown of Aragon followed. Despite carrying Arabic religious inscriptions, these were minted by Christian powers who had no theological stake in the text — only a commercial one. North African merchants accepted them at par with genuine Almohad issues.

The papacy condemned the practice more than once, on the grounds that Christian mints were reproducing Islamic profession-of-faith inscriptions for profit.