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Dirham - Mu'izz al-Din Sanjar Shah
| Issuer | Jazira, Emirate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1189-1190 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Dirham (1) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A four-line Arabic inscription occupying the central field, arranged in horizontal registers, citing the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah and the Ayyubid overlord al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf I (Saladin). A marginal circular legend in Arabic runs along the periphery of the flan, completing the formulaic acknowledgment of political authority. The lettering is boldly struck in relief on an irregularly shaped hammered flan exhibiting typical patination and die wear consistent with late 12th-century Jaziran copper coinage. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | 584 (1189) - - 585 (1189) - - ND (1189-1190) - - 586 (1190) - - |
| Additional information |
Sanjar Shah ruled the Jazira region — roughly the upper Mesopotamian steppe between the Tigris and Euphrates — as a vassal of the Zengid dynasty, though he maneuvered with considerable autonomy during the fractious succession struggles following Nur al-Din's death in 1174. Copper dirhams of this type were essential to local market exchange precisely because silver coinage was intermittently scarce or hoarded during periods of political instability across the northern Jazira.
The A#1882 reference places this within Album's classification of Artuqid-adjacent issues, a grouping that reflects how thoroughly overlapping jurisdictions and tribute relationships blurred autonomous minting in the region.