Archaeometry 44, 4 (2002) 573599.

Printed in Great Britain

The circulation
of precious

metals in the Arab Empire

573

THE CIRCULATION OF PRECIOUS METALS IN THE ARAB

EMPIRE: THE CASE OF THE NEAR AND THE MIDDLE EAST*
A. GONDONNEAU and M. F. GUERRA
Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Muses de France, UMR 171 CNRS,
Palais du Louvre6, rue des Pyramides, 75041 Paris Cedex 01, France

The analysis by nuclear activation techniques and by inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometry combined with an UV laser of a large number of gold coins issued in the Arab
Empire from the seventh to the 12th century AD showed that several different supplying
sources were used, according to the region and to the period.
The aim of this paper is to point out the circulation of gold in the Near and Middle
Eastern mints of the Arab Empire and to make a parallel with the mints policies running in
the other regions of the Empire, such as North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the Sicily.
The identification of different gold ores by means of characteristic trace elements indicated recycling of the ancient coinage and, after AD 750, the minting in the entire Arab
Empire of different new gold ores: Egyptian type, North Eastern type and West African type.
The analysis of a small number of silver coins from the same periods and regions also showed
a change in the ore supply after AD 750.
KEYWORDS: GOLD, SILVER, ACTIVATION ANALYSIS, ICP-MS, MUSLIM, COINS

INTRODUCTION

To study the circulation of gold in the past, we must characterize this metal. In general, the
characterization of a metal can be done by two sorts of techniques: the determination of the
lead isotope ratios or the determination of a combination of characteristic trace elements entering in the metals composition.
However, the identification of the sources of gold is not an easy task. Nowadays, many of the
ancient sources are completely exhausted, few documents make reference to the situation of
the mines and so no geochemical information is available. This means that the search for the
circulation routes of gold is mostly based on the objects themselves.
This particular study on the circulation of gold in the Near and Middle Eastern regions of the
Arab Empire is based on the analysis of coins. As in our case the documents give information
on the sources of gold and on the routes of the caravans, we can assume that the coins struck in
the mints close to the gold mines or close to the main routes of the gold caravans are made with
local gold (Gondonneau and Guerra 2000). So, if the composition of these coins matches with
the composition of other coins we can assume that they were produced with the same gold.
The size and the rarity of the coins compel the use of non-destructive analysis. Also, the large
number of analyses required to obtain the statistical composition of the assumed local gold
inhibits sampling. This means that isotopic measurements are hard to perform, especially if we
consider the fact that native gold shows very low lead contents (Antweiler and Sutton 1970).

* Received 19 July 2001; accepted 10 May 2002.

University of Oxford, 2002

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A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

We must also be aware of the recycling of coins, as the main information on the characteristic elements might be lost. However, the advantage of our coins is that the date and mint of
issue are indicated in the coins legends, and the high level of production of gold makes
recycling of the specimens unnecessary.
If many techniques can determine the major, minor and sometimes a few trace elements, the
characterization of gold might require the measurement of several elements for which classical
techniques present too low detection limits (Gondonneau et al. 1996). In fact, the high temperatures to which the ores and metals are submitted during separation and purification lead to the
loss of a large number of elements by oxidation and evaporation. Mostly elements following
goldsuch as the platinum group elements (PGE), as well as a few other elements such as
tin, antimony, tellurium and zincgive, in general, information on the ore type and on the
provenance of the metal, but those elements are not easy to measure when present in ppm
concentrations. If we need to be aware of the PGE inclusions (Meeks and Tite 1980), we could
observe by filtered PIXE mapping on samples with Pt contents between 3000 and 100 ppm
(Guerra and Calligaro 2002) that below about 500 ppm the distribution of that element is quite
homogeneous.
In order to obtain as much information as possible on the gold ores, we used 12 MeV proton
activation analysis (Barrandon et al. 1976) and, for some specimens, LA-ICP-MS analysis,
which provides quantitative determinations of the major, minor and trace elements in gold
(Guerra et al. 1999).
Using those analytical techniques, and being aware of all the difficulties, we have focused
our work on the provenance of the gold ores used in the Orient but also in the Occident by the
Arabs to issue their gold coin. That gold coin, the dinar, remained the monetary dominant
specie of the Mediterranean world and the Near East until the 12th century ad.
THE MUSLIM EMPIRE

Islam was undoubtedly the most profound social and religious revolution to take place in the
history of the Arabs, if not in the entire Near East (Frye 1993).
From the sixth century to the beginning of the seventh century, the conflicts with the
Byzantines, who dominated the Mediterranean Near East, and with the Sassanians, who dominated
Mesopotamia and Iran, contributed to the loss of their territories, which were conquered by the
Arabs. The expansion of Islam started after the death of the Prophet in ad 632 and finished in
ad 732 with the defeat imposed by the Franks in the battle of Poitiers (France), which stopped the
advance of the Arabs to the north-west. After the fall of Jerusalem in ad 638, in about 30 years
the Arab armies reached northern India and controlled Syria and Persia. Then Alexandria was
conquered in ad 711, and after the occupation of Egypt the Arab armies reached the North of
Africa through Libya and then defeated the Visigoth kings in Spain. Although in ad 717 the
Arabs were defeated in Constantinople, they were still able to conquer Sicily and Crete.
However, those victories were obtained by different dynasties (see Table 1). The internal
struggles for power of the different clans gave rise to a first period (ad 661750) of a centralized Ummayad government that ruled from its capital, Damascus. The Persian Abbasids, who
replaced the Ummayad dynasty, ruled until 1258 from a new capital, Baghdad. The decentralization of the Arab Empire began with the Abbasids and several states were created, each one
having a ruler.
It was by the end of the eighth century ad that the vast Arab Empire extended from the Indus
to the Aegean Sea, from the Oxus to the Arabian Peninsula, from Egypt to the Maghrib, and

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The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

Table 1

575

Muslim dynasties and periods of reign

Dynasty

Dates (AD)

Main regions controlled

Ummayad
Abbassid
Midrarid
Aghlabid
Tulunid
Ikhshidid
Fatimid
Zirid
Almoravid
Almohad

661750
7501258
771976
800909
868905
934968
9091171
9721167
10611147
11471269

Near East, North Africa

Near East, Egypt
North Africa
North Africa, (Sicily)
Egypt (Near East)
Egypt
North Africa, Egypt (Sicily, Near East)
North Africa
North Africa, al-Andalus
North Africa, al-Andalus

included the Iberian Peninsula (see Fig. 1). With one language and one religion, it became an
enormous economic system that controlled all of the trade in the Mediterranean world.
The dinar, the Arab gold coin, became the medium of exchange for commercial transactions
in the Mediterranean world and also in Europe. Cipolla (1956) considers the dinar as one of the
dollars of the Middle Ages.
The first gold coin, with Arabic writing and no figures, appeared under the Ummayads after
the reform of Abd al-Malik in ad 695, while the Islamic silver coin called the dirham was first
issued in ad 698. During the first period, gold was struck in the Islamic empire in at least four
areas: Egypt (Misr), Syria (Damascus), North Africa (Ifriqhiya) and Spain (al-Andalus). If the
Ummayad centralized the fabrication of the gold issues, this central government monopoly was
abandoned by the Abbasids. In fact, while only three mints (Baghdad, Egypt and Ifriqhiya)
issued dinars under Harun al Raschid (ad 786809), in ad 889 about 20 mints were producing
dinars at the same time as the governors of Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The standard purity
of the official coinage was arbitrarily fixed by the rulers. This gave rise in the Abbasid East to
the circulation of several different dinar issues (Ehrenkreutz 1959).
Several documents refer to the re-exploitation of, for example, the Nubian, Red Sea, Ethiopian
and Arabian (Yemen) gold mines in the Orient by the first caliphs of the Islamic expansion.
However, the most important event of the economic situation in the Arab Empire was certainly
the exploitation of a new gold ore from the Occidental regions: the new sources of ancient Sudan
(Ghana, Mali and Mauritania). We know that all the commercial exchanges were done in dinars,
which at that time reached distant regions such as the Indian Ocean, Ceylon and Malabar. But
did the exploitation of that new Occidental gold give rise to the issue of such quantities of dinars?
Did that gold reach Egypt and the Middle East? Was it used to fabricate the Oriental dinar?
In the 10th century ad the Islamic world started to break up, with the establishment of the
Fatimids first in North Africa and then in Egypt, and with the important role of the Ummayads in
Spain. We can observe in the 11th century the decline of the Islamic world with the establishment of the Turks in the Near East, the Berbers in North Africa and Spain and the Christians in
Sicily and Syria. The Fatimids in Egypt remained the last bastion of the Arab world.
ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

Two techniques were used to perform the analysis on the gold and silver coins: 12 MeV proton
activation analysis and LA-ICP-MS. The first method uses the CERICNRS cyclotron facilities

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A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

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Figure 1 By the end of the eighth century AD, the Arab Empire covered a vast region, from the Indus to the Aegean Sea, from the Oxus to the Arabian Peninsula, from
Egypt to the Maghrib, and including the Iberian Peninsula.

The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

577

and the second one the IRAMATCNRS Fison PlasmaQuad PQXS, combined with a 2 mJ
pulsed VG Nd : YAG laser. The laser, with a maximum shot frequency of 10 Hz, has its
wavelength frequency quadrupled to work at the UV wavelength of 266 nm.
The analysis of gold coins by proton activation analysis was first developed by Meyers in the
1960s (see Meyers 1969, 1972). In our configuration the first experiments were done by
Barrandon and Debrun in the 1970s, but readers can refer to Poirier (1983). The analysis uses
a 12 MeV proton beam extracted through a Ti target that reaches the sample with an energy of
11.36 MeV. At this energy we observe almost only (p,n) nuclear reactions, which reduce the
interference and improve the detection limits. Gold produces two isomers of mercury-197 by a
(p,n) reaction, both of which emit gamma rays of an energy lower than 300 keV. The interposition of a lead sheet between the sample and the detector strongly absorbs low-energy gamma
rays and so gamma-ray spectrometry can be performed on the gold object immediately after
irradiation. Quantitative calculations were made by using a basic equation containing the proton
range in the sample, solved using the Ricci and Hann (1965, 1967) mean method; concentrations are normalized to 100 wt%. With this technique we can measure the major elements of
gold alloys (gold, silver and copper) as well as about 12 minor and trace elements with detection limits that may reach 1 ppm. Those trace elements are characteristic of some monetary
debasement techniques and sometimes discriminate the gold ores.
The first gold fingerprinting by means of LA-ICP-MS was done by Watling et al. (1994) on
geological samples, but qualitatively. In the same year, Kogan et al. (1994) published their
technique for measuring in a quantitative way trace elements in high-purity gold and silver
industrial samples. Based on home-made nuclear activation certified gold samples of different
compositions, we were able to develop, in 1998, a semi-quantitative technique with our LAICP-MS configuration, details of which were published in Gondonneau and Guerra (1999). The
main parameters are described in Table 2; for those UV laser parameters the depth of the crater
was estimated (by piling 20 m thick certified 80Au/20Cu foils) to about 130 m. Quantitative
Table 2 The main operating conditions and data collection parameters for the LA-ICP-MS configuration

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Instrument
Plasma
Forward/reflected radio frequency power
Coolant/carrier/auxiliary gas flow
Sampling cone/skimmer cone

Fison Elemental PlasmaQuad PQXS

Argon
1.350 kW/< 2 W
14.0 l min1/1.1 l min1/1.4 l min1
Ni 0.9 mm orifice/ Ni 0.7 mm orifice

Data collection parameters

Acquisition mode
Dwell time per channel
Ion lens tuning
Acquisition time

Pick jumping, three points per peak

10.24 ms
5 105 for 115In in NIST612
60 s after 10 s pre-ablation

Laser operating parameters

Laser type
Maximum output
Fundamental wavelength
Laser operating mode
Number of shots per site
Shot repetition rate
Site pattern for each analysis

VG Nd : YAG (continuum)
2 mJ
266 nm
Switched-Q
Three
6 Hz
Three by three raster; i.e., nine sites per analysis

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A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

Figure 2 LA-ICP-MS detection limits measured using either repeated blanks or gold standard NBS SRM685 and
compared with PAA detection limits.

calculations were made by using the internal standard technique, which in the case of the gold
samples was the argon species AuAr+ generated in the plasma (gold is a mono-isotopic element
that is present in too high levels to be measured in pulse counting mode; that is, at the same
time as trace elements).
The detection limits were evaluated by considering first a concentration equivalent to three
times the standard deviation of 10 replicate blank analyses, and then a concentration equivalent to three times the standard deviation of three replicate analyses (the normal analytical
procedural conditions for objects) of the high-purity gold standard NBS SRM685. The latter
corresponds to the normal gold plasma conditions observed during the analysis of gold objects.
Figure 2 shows that the plasma-only and gold background measurements give detection limits
that differ by a factor of 10. In the same figure we can observe a factor of 10100 between the
LA-ICP-MS and the proton activation analysis (PAA) detection limits.
THE GOLD COINAGE

For this study we analysed 234 dinars issued by the Arab dynasties in different Near and
Middle Eastern, North African and Sicilian mints. The comparison with the situation in the
other regions of the Arab Empire was made by adding to our results the composition of a few
coins issued in North Africa and Spain, already published by Roux and Guerra (1998, 2000).
In Table 3 we can observe that most of the dinars present a gold concentration higher than
95%, the others having a reduced purity that may fall as low as 75%. This debasement is
observed for 30% of the Abbasid dinars, or 39% if we exclude Egypt. Those debased dinars
were struck in the Middle Eastern mints. The Abbasids controlled this region above all, but the
decrease in the gold concentration with a corresponding increase in silver (copper is, in general,
present in very low concentrations, lower than 1%) could be explained by the non-purification
of the native gold ores. In fact, we know that on the one hand the refining techniques are
expensive and that, on the other hand, gold ores have a concentration of silver that may reach
more than 40%, with a copper content lower than 1% (Raub 1995). We must note that only
native gold from Borneo and the Urals shows 5% or more copper, as observed by Palache et al.
(1944, cited by Ogden 1993).
However, it is hard to check for the use of non-purified gold (Oddy 1980; and see the
appendix). If we consider that coins were instead debased by the addition of silver and that

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Table 3

Dynasty

Date (AD)

Au (%)
75

North Africa

Egypt

Near East
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Sicily
Total

Umayyad
Aghlabid
Fatimid
Midrarite
Zirid
Almoravid
Almohad

661750
800909
9091171
771976
9721167
10611147
11471269

Abbasid
Tulunid
Ikhshidid
Fatimid

750 1258
868905
934968
9091171

Umayyid
Abbasid
Fatimid

661750
7501258
9091171

Fatimid

9091171

79

81

84

85

86

87

88

90

91

Total
92

93

94

1
3

95

96

1
1
1

1
2

2
1

97

98

99

100

1
14
17
1
5

5
4
10

6
27
37
3
7
8
4

1
1

18

1
1
1
11

2
2
1
2

7
7
2
42

7
10

2
15

9
76
2

6
3

1
1

1
1

1
1

2
1

11

12

8
1

17

2
1
2

25

66

5
51

17

The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

579

Area

The number of dinars analysed by region and dynasty as a function of the measured purity

234

579

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A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

most of the silver ores exploited in ancient times were lead ores, we expect to find in Table 1
(results obtained by PAA; see the appendix) a correlation between silver and lead (Antweiler
and Sutton 1970; Hartmann and Nau 1976; Healy 1978). During refining, lead is not completely
eliminated from silver, so the quantity of lead measured in a debased gold object can be
supposed to depend only on the quantity of silver. This correlation is not observed. However,
we cannot state that silver from another type of ore was not added to the alloy (even if there is
no correlation between silver and any other measured trace element).
No link was found between the purity and the date of issue or the mint situation, but the
politics of the Oriental caliphs itself explains that debasement. Under the Abbasids the disorder
caused by the emergence, mainly after ad 861, of large social revolts and separatist movements
in such a huge territory resulted in the Baghdad authorities losing political and administrative control over the monetary mints. The geographical fragmentation of the Empire led the
governors of the various states to establish the dinars purity as a function of their own needs
and ideas (Ehrenkreutz 1963). This is the reason why several different dinars were in circulation
at the same time in the Orient.
Considering that, in general, the dinars seem to have been made with native gold, which was
either purified or not, we can assume that their trace elements are characteristic of the employed
gold ore. A specific gold ore corresponds to each chemical group, and coins matching with one
chemical group are assumed to be made from the same gold ore. The aim of this work is to
determine, by means of the characteristic trace elements measured in a group of dinars, the origin
of the gold ores used in the Near and Middle Eastern mints and to understand the circulation of
gold in that region of the Arab Empire.
GOLD AND SILVER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CONQUEST

When the Arabs reached the various regions that they conquered, they replaced the existing
coins with their dinars and dirhams (gold and silver coins, respectively). Did they recycle the
previous coins or did they use new ore supplies to strike their coinage? In order to answer this
question, we analysed a group of coins struck before and immediately after the conquest.
Orient and North Africa
Before the Arab conquest, the Oriental and North African regions were under the control of
the Sassanians and the Byzantines. The Byzantine coinage was mostly made of gold, but the
Sassanian coinage was mostly fabricated with silver.
In order to check whether or not this coinage was recycled, the composition of some of the
last Sassanian and Byzantine coins was compared with the composition of the first Muslim ones.
Gold In Figures 3 (a) and (b), we can observe a correlation between the Pt and the Pd contents for the dinars issued in North Africa and in the Orient. The Ummayad dinars show higher
contents than those issued by the Abbasids in the Middle East and the Aghlabids in Ifriqhiya. If
we include in Figure 3 (b) the Byzantine coins struck in Carthage before the conquest and the
ArabLatin coins struck in that mint immediately after the conquest (the Arabic legends only
appear after the reforms of Abd al-Malik in ad 695), we can see that they are also characterized
by high Pt and Pd contents.
We can suggest that the Ummayads recycled the Byzantine gold from Carthage. In Table 4
we compare the Pt/Au ratio obtained for the Ummayad and Byzantine Carthage coins with a

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581

(a)

(b)
Figure 3 Platinum and palladium contents normalized to gold concentration for (a) the Near and Middle Eastern
Ummayad and Abbasid dinars and (b) the coins issued in North Africa by the different Arab dynasties and by the
Byzantines.

Table 4 The Pt/Au ratio for the Byzantine coins struck in Carthage and Constantinople, and for the Eastern and
Western Ummayad, Aghlabid and Abbasid dinars

Pt/Au
Dynasty
Byzantine
Arab/Latin
Ummayad
Aghlabid
Abbasid
Abbasid

<0.5

Area
Carthage
Constantinople
Ifriqhiya
Ifriqhiya
Syria
Ifriqhiya
Egypt
East

1
16
12

5
4
40

5
1
1
2
3
1
16

3
8
2
2
1

1
16
1
2
2

1
2

1
1

Total
4
34
4
7
9
24
5
77

group of Byzantine coins struck in Constantinople and analysed by Morrisson et al. (1985)
using the same technique (unfortunately, those authors did not measure the Pd contents). We
can see that the Pt/Au ratio ranges between 2 and 8 for all the Byzantine coins struck in
Constantinople and, if we exclude one coin, between 2 and 6 for all the Ummayad dinars.

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A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

(a)

(b)
Figure 4 The Au/Ag ratio as a function of the date of issue of (a) the Eastern Ummayad and Sassanian silver coins
and (b) the North African Ummayad and Abbasid dirhams.

We can say that those results go together with the hypotheses of Bates (1992, 1995) about
the preservation of the same mint personnel after the conquest. In fact, if the Arabs conquest
was prompt, the arabization of the administration was rather slow. The use of Latin legends to
write on the first coins the sayings of the Prophet, and the similar concentrations of Pt and Pd
found in the Byzantine and the Ummayad coins, lead us to suggest that the gold ore used to
issue the first Muslim dinars either in the Orient (Damascus was under Byzantine domination
before the conquest) or in Ifriqhiya is the same. We can see in the same Table 4 that the Pt/Au
ratio changes under the Abbasids and the Aghlabids, which certainly corresponds to a change in
the ore type around ad 750.
Silver As little or no gold was struck in Persia by the Sassanians before the arrival of the Arabs,
we analysed a few dirhams issued by the Ummayads and the Abbasids in the Oriental mints,
and compared the results with those obtained for a small group of Sassanian and ArabSassanian
coins.
In Figure 4 (a) we show the Au/Ag ratio as a function of the date of issue of the Muslim and
the Sassanian coins: to obtain approximate ad dates, we have added 622 to ah (anno Hegirae)
dates. We observe that the ratio changes from an average of 0.006 for the Sassanian, Arab
Sassanian and Ummayad coins to an average of 0.002 for the Abbasid ones. This change has
already been referred to by Gordus (1972) and Meyers (2002); in fact, we can see in the same

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583

Figure 5 The concentration of platinum and tin for the northern and southern Visigothic tremisses and for the first
Arab coins struck in the Iberian Peninsula by the Ummayad Emirate.

figure that our results and those of Gordus fit together. We can assume a change in the silver
ore supplies by the end of the Ummayad reign and the beginning of the Abbasid dynasty in the
Middle East.
However, if we cite Meyers (1998) it is assumed that silver metallurgy started with the
exploitation of leadsilver ores: cerussite (PbCO3) and galena (PbS). The Au/Ag ratios measured by several authors, as cited by Meyers (1998), in lead ores as well as in slags and litharge
show that silver produced from galena contains less than 0.1% of Au, while silver from
cerussite has an Au content higher than 0.25%. This means that cerrusite was exploited before
galena to produce silver objects.
The sudden change of the Au/Ag ratio around ad 750 may indicate a change in the type of
lead ore exploited and thus in the production technique. The problem of the scarcity of silver
faced by the Arabs (shown by the production, in the seventhninth centuries, of high-tin bronze
patinated vessels that look like silver; Meyers 1998) could have been solved by the fact that
they had the technology needed to exploit deeper mines.
If we consider in Figure 4 (b) the results obtained for the dirhams of the North African mints
published by Roux and Guerra (1998), we can observe the same phenomenon for Ifriqhiya: a
decrease in the Au/Ag ratio between the Ummayad and the Abbasid dynasties in the middle of
the eighth century (around ah 140/ad 757).
Spain
When the Arabs reached the Iberian Peninsula in ad 711, they found a very debased coin, the
Visigoth tremisse. The analyses published by Guerra (2000a,b) of some tremisses from several
different regionsLusitania, Galecia, Betica and Carthaginensecan be compared with analyses of a small set of Arabian coins struck under the Damascus- dependent Ummayad Emirate,
immediately after the conquest, and of a small group of dinars struck by the Spanish Ummayad
(Guerra and Roux 2002). The Pt, Pd, Sn, Zn and Sb contents show a change in the gold
supplies. This change can be described completely by the evolution of the Sn and Pt contents in
Figure 5: the tremisses struck in the south of the Iberian Peninsula are similar to the first dinars,
which seems to show that the gold could have been recycled. We also notice that the gold struck
in the north by the Visigoths came from a different source, certainly from the northeastern

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A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

mines of the Iberian Peninsula. According to D. M. Metcalf (personal communication with

M. F. Guerra) the northeastern mines only produced about 10% of the gold needed to make
the northeastern tremisses (see Guerra 2000a), the rest coming from the southern mines. On the
other hand, under the Ummayads a new gold supply is observed that certainly corresponds to
West African gold (see Guerra 2000a,b; Guerra and Roux 2002).
We can conclude that the first gold and silver Arab coins, struck immediately after the
conquest, were made in all the regions of the Empire by recycling the previous coins (or, less
probably, by the use of the same ores). Also, a change in the metal supplies appears for gold
and for silver by the middle of the eighth century ad, which means between the end of the
Ummayad dynasty and the beginning of the Abbasid dynasty in North Africa and Spain, as well
as in the Middle East.
GOLD IN THE MIDDLE EAST FROM THE ABBASIDS TO THE FATIMIDS

Our results show that a new gold supply arrived under the Abbasids in the Oriental Muslim
mints, and the aim of this section is to try to identify the sources of this gold.
Due to the scarcity of Oriental coins in the French collections, the results are treated by geographical region (see Fig. 1). We applied a correspondence analysis statistical treatment called
Anaconda (version 1.0 for the Mac system by J.-J. Girardot, Laboratoire de Mathmatique,
Informatique et Statistique, Universit de France-Comt, Besanon, France) to all the elements
in Table 2, normalized to the gold contents, except for lead. In fact, we observed that this
element is present at high concentrations in some coins with more than 98% Au; for example,
coin L895 with 10 500 ppm and coin L966 with 12 900 ppm. An analysis of about 25 gold
nuggets from Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Mali (see Guerra 2002) by PAA and ICP-MS in
liquid mode shows that the Pb concentration is always lower than 76 ppm, except for one
sample. This one nugget showed a Pb content of 2200 ppm (the major composition being:
94.2% Au, 5.8% Ag and 0.003% Cu). No explanation has yet been found for this phenomenon,
but in Ogden (1993) we read that 0.2% lead was reported in a sample of native electrum from
West Africa.
Several authors, amongst whom is Ehrenkreutz (1959), suggest that the dinars struck immediately after the conquest without the mint mark were issued in the Empires capitals: first
Damascus (in Syria) under the Ummayads and afterwards Baghdad and Samara (in Iraq) under
the Abbasids. In ah 146/ad 763, the opening of the Baghdad mint under the Abbasids and the
caption with the name of the issuing mint on the coins clarify their provenance.
Figure 6 shows the results of the statistical treatment on the first dinars issued by the
Ummayads and the Abbasids in Damascus (Syria?), before the opening of the Baghdad mint;
the coins struck by the Abbasids in Baghdad, but without a mint mark (Iraq?); and the dinars
struck by the Abbasids in all the other mints of the Eastern Empire, with a mint mark. The
Ummayad dinars have higher Pt and Pd contents than the majority of the Abbasid dinars.
However, the latter present higher Ga and Sn contents. We can suggest that the gold ore of
Byzantine type struck immediately after the conquest by recycling of the previous coins was
gradually replaced by another gold ore with higher Ga and Sb contents and a lower Pt content.
The first Abbasid dinars from Syria without a mint mark are in group 1, but those with a mint
mark are present in groups 1 and 2, as are those from Iraq without a mint mark.
All the dinars struck in Egypt, Yemen and Khuzistan fit together in group 2 and those from
Jibal, Azerbaijan, Al Jezirah and Cilicia are chemically close to that group. Most of the dinars
struck in Al Shash (Transoxiana) and some coins from the northern mints of the Empire,

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The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

585

Figure 6 The results of the statistical analysis on the dinars issued in Syria by the Ummayads and in all the Near
and Middle Eastern mints by the Abbasids. (?) corresponds to the dinars without a mint mark and certainly issued
in the caliphates capitals.

Samarkand and Merv (Khorazan) form a group 3, which is characterized by a higher Sb content
and the absence of PGE; the only two dinars that fit with group 1 are the oldest ones (L946 and
L947) from Merv.
We can suppose that after recycling the previous gold, the Abbasids used a gold from Nubia,
the Red Sea or Arabia that we can qualify as being of Egyptian type and having the chemical
characteristics of group 2. We must note that the dinars struck in the Khuzistan (this region is
situated near the Persian Gulf and contains, among other locations, the harbour at Al Basra)
have identical characteristics to the dinars struck in Egypt and in the Yemen. Gold could thus
reach the Orient by sea. All the dinars situated between groups 1 and 2 in Figure 6 could had
been issued with a mixture of gold ores.
The third ore, which corresponds to group 3, is harder to identify. However, it is certainly an
external ore supply. Ehrenkreutz indicated a gold supply (that was confirmed by recent geological discoveries) from the Naysabur mint in the Khorazan in the 9th10th century ad. It is also
possible that a gold ore came from the other side of the Indus and the Danube. The analysis of
dinars struck by the dynasties contemporary to the Abbasids and installed in the northeastern
Empire could confirm this hypothesis.
In Figure 7 we consider the coins struck in Egypt from the Abbasids to the Fatimids. The
Tulunid, Ikhshidid and Abbasid dinars have the same chemical characteristics, while those
issued by the Fatimids in Misr have a more heterogeneous composition, some specimens
presenting higher Pt and Sb contents. This might be explained by the monetary reform (that
removed the debased dinars, such as the Abbasid ones, from circulation) accomplished by the
Fatimids immediately after their arrival in Egypt in ad 969: the Fatimids recycled the first
Abbasid dinars and struck a Byzantine-type gold.
Figure 7 shows a chemical group with higher Sb and Sn contents (but also with some Pt,
contrary to the Abbasid dinars struck in the north-east of the Empire), comprising the Fatimid
coins struck in Alexandria, the main commercial harbour of the Oriental Mediterranean, together

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586

A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

Figure 7

The results of the statistical analysis on the dinars issued in Egypt by the different dynasties.

Figure 8

The Sn/Au ratio as a function of the date of issue for the Egyptian Fatimid dinars.

with those from Baghdad and Al Basra. Figure 8 shows that the Sn/Au ratio of the Fatimid
coins struck in Egypt increases with the date of issue. We do not know where this gold comes
from, but we could imagine the arrival of a gold supply from the Western Empire.
GOLD IN THE WESTERN EMPIRE

It is hard to determine which of the sources of gold, Nubia or Ghana, was the most important
one at every stage of the Fatimid period (Messier 1973). While the Fatimids arrived in Egypt
in ad 969, this dynasty had reigned over Ifriqhiya since ad 909 and, following Ehrenkreutz, it
is clear that their domination all over the North African coast gave them the benefit of the
imported gold ores from western and eastern Africa. Also, after their establishment in Egypt,
the Fatimids concluded an alliance with the Zirids, the governors of Ifriqhiya, that lasted until
1041. From the cessation of this relationship emerged the Hilalian invasion in 10512 and the
Fatimids loss of the West African routes from ancient Sudan.

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587

Figure 9 The results of the statistical analysis on the dinars issued by the Fatimids in Sicily, Egypt (Misr and
Alexandria) and North Africa (Ifriqhiya). (?) corresponds to coins without a mint mark.

We have plotted in Figure 9 the results of the statistical analysis on the Fatimid coins struck
in Egypt, North Africa and Sicily, as well as those struck by the other dynasties that controlled
North Africa. The dinars from Misr form a group characterized by higher Pt and Pd contents,
while some Aghlabid dinars (the dynasty that accepted the caliphate of Baghdad authority and
ruled over Ifriqhiya from ad 800 to ad 909) form a second group, characterized by a higher Ga
content. The other Aghlabid coins fit into the Egyptian group. The Aghlabids seem to have used
different gold ores for the fabrication of their coins: first, a (certainly) local gold with a high Ga
content, followed by an Egyptian-type gold and a mixture of both gold ores (or recycling of the
previous coins). The Fatimids seem to have followed the same procedure in North Africa.
However, a few Fatimid and Zirid dinars, as well as the Midrarid ones, fit together with the
group formed by the Almoravid coins. These dynasties had access to West African gold. The
Almoravid gold is characterized by a lower Ga content and the absence of PGE, but is still
chemically different from the coins struck in Alexandria. The Sicilian coins have tin contents
that increase with the date of issue, so we can suggest the use of the same gold ores as used by
the Aghlabids and the Fatimids, and the slow arrival of a new ore coming from West Africa.
If we consider Messiers suggestions, the Almoravids gained a certain prestige from their
monetary gold, which had a very good reputation among medieval authors, and certainly
among merchants, who invariably referred to the Sudanese gold as a very pure gold of the best
quality. We must note that the analysis of a group of modern gold nuggets from Ghana, the
Ivory Coast and Mali showed a very pure gold with a purity that may reach more than 98% and
very low quantities of PGE and Sb (Guerra 2002). The Almoravid gold struck in the African
mints on the West African gold caravan routes, such as Sijilmasa, is certainly the famous
Sudanese gold. This gold arrived in Spain (Roux and Guerra 2000) and in Sicily. If Messier
supposes that the local supply in Fatimid Egypt might not have been sufficient to cover the
government needs, which means that the Fatimids could have continued to import West African
gold, the analysis does not show the use of that gold in the eastern Empire mints.

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588

A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

CONCLUSIONS

We have been able to identify several gold ores supplies employed by the Arabs to strike their
coinage from the beginning of the conquest to the 12th century, particularly those used in the
eastern part of the Empire.
The comparison of the characteristic trace elements concentrations present in the silver and
gold coinage issued before and immediately after the conquest in the different regions of the
Empire showed that until about ad 750 all of the Islamic world recycled the previous coins:
Byzantine and Sassanian coins in the Orient, Byzantine coins in North Africa and Visigoth
coins in Spain. During the transition period between the end of the Ummayad dynasty and the
arrival of the Abbasids (around ad 750), we have observed a change in the silver and gold
supplies all over the Arab Empire. This phenomenon certainly corresponds to the exploitation
of deeper silver veins and of new sources of gold such as the West African one.
We could show that in the Near and Middle Eastern mints under the Abbasids an Egyptiantype goldcertainly from Nubia, the Red Sea or Arabiawas used, while another gold ore
was used in the northeastern Empire. But in Egypt under the Fatimids we observed the
recycling of the Abbasid dinars, corresponding to the reforms of ad 969, as well as the use,
in Alexandria, of another gold ore with high Sn and Sb contents.
In the western Empire we have observed that under the Aghlabids a short-lived gold is used,
certainly an Ifriqhiyan one, while in the mints located on the gold caravan routes a West African
gold was struck. This gold reached Spain and Sicily. But while there are no signs of its arrival in
the eastern Empire, under the Fatimids the eastern gold seems to have reached the western mints.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to Michel Amandry and Franois Thierry, respectively Director and
Chief Curator of the Cabinet des Mdailles, Bibliothque nationale de France, for all their help
with the coin collections; to Michael Bates, Curator of Islamic Coins in the American Numismatic Society Museum; to Luke Treadwell, Keeper in Islamic Numismatics at the Heberden
Coin Room of the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford; to Pieter Meyers, Head of Conservation at
the Los Angeles County Museum; and to Michael Cowell, Research Scientist at the Department
of Scientific Research of the British Museum, for all their suggestions and information; and to
the IRAMAT laboratory and the CERI-CNRS cyclotron laboratory for the running time.
APPENDIX

In Gondonneau et al. (2001) we showed the difference between the concentration of some
elements obtained by LA-ICP-MS and by PAA. This difference is due to the non-linearity of
the laser ablation. In order to have an homogeneous set of results we give in Tables 5 and 6 the
compositions obtained by PAA. The composition of the coins already published in Gondonneau
and Guerra (1999) may therefore sometimes be different.
We need to be aware of the quantities of lead in gold. As Grimwald (2000) says: Workability
will be deleteriously affected if the alloy contains embrittling impurities or hard spots. One
well-known example is that the presence of small amounts (< 0.1%) of lead will cause catastrophic embrittlement in gold. However, the problem of the lead concentration in gold is not
still completely understood, as discussed further in the section Gold in the Middle East from the
Abbasids to the Fatimids. To cite Ogden (1993), the West African gold ores may show high
lead contents.

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ARCH4C06

Table 5 The composition of the analysed gold coinage. The coins belong to the Bibliothque nationale de France collections and most of them are referenced in the
catalogue of Lavoix (1891)

%
Region

Reference

Date (AH)

Mints

Au

Ag

Cu

As

Ga

Pb

Pd

Pt

Sb

Sn

Zn

11/22/02, 10:32 AM

Byzantine

North Africa

1968.798
Sch2831
Af725

38/40
47/53
54/58

Carthage?
Carthage?
Carthage?

98.3
95.5
96.7

1.4
3.7
2.6

0.3
0.8
0.7

3
5
3

2
3
1

47
6
95

16
12
23

338
328
366

4
18
2

54
183
56

59
66
75

Arab-Latin

North Africa

L109
L110
L111bis
L114

85/87
87/88
90/91
98

Carthage?
Carthage?
Carthage?
Carthage?

88.6
90.5
84.9
60.6

10.4
7.6
12.0
37.4

3.0
1.8
3.2
2.0

1
2
3
7

2
1
2
8

125
121
84
10

24
18
31
8

282
369
288
110

11
6
8
9

85
87
134
261

129
108
350
102

Ummayad

North Africa

1978.51
L408bis
1966.341
L425
1978.52
L464
L465

101
101
102
103
104
114
117

?
?
?
?
?
?
?

98.8
98.7
98.8
99.6
99.0
98.8
98.4

1.0
1.1
1.1
0.4
0.8
1.0
1.2

0.04
0.1
0.04
0.01
0.2
0.1
0.2

1
1
1
1
1
13
<1

1
2
0.4
0.5
1
3
3

7
18
3
3
13
15
21

20
22
33
12
19
18
18

361
385
606
149
481
319
332

1
1
0.3
1
1
1
<1

31
17
4
88
20
34
29

20
13
16
17
29
21
34

Syria?

L159
L217
L367
L451
L456
L459
L463
L536
L539

78
89
99
109
114
119
124
129
132

Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?

97.9
98.3
98.4
99.5
98.6
98.4
97.5
98.4
98.4

1.6
1.3
1.2
0.4
1.1
1.5
2.3
1.4
1.3

0.4
0.3
0.3
0.03
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2

2
1
3
3
2
3
1
1
2

1
2
1
2
4
5
1
4
1

31
23
24
11
25
41
17
12
25

24
14
24
24
11
10
0.2
18
17

441
347
555
466
244
184
30
296
400

0.1
1
2
0.3
2
1
0.4
1
2

12
8
8
3
17
6
1
6
10

20
24
21
22
41
20
9
25
21

The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

589

Dynasty

ppm

589

ARCH4C06

590

Table 5

(continued)

Aghlabid

North Africa

L823
L830
1972.1319
L202bis
L836
1974.31
1974.32
L845
1972.1321
L846
1978.53
1974.35
1974.36
1970.269.2
L857
1967.210
L865
L867
1972.1326
1976.189
L873
1972.1328
L883
1967.570
L887

191
199
200
202
213
218
222
230
236
240
242
249
250
253
261
269
271
276
280
282
284
288
290
293
296

Abbasid

Egypt

L885
L890
L895
L949
L954
L982

199
203
215
235
245
252

Reference

Date (AH)

Mints

11/22/02, 10:32 AM

Au

Ag

Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?

93.8
98.2
97.7
96.2
97.2
97.9
97.4
99.1
98.2
98.4
98.2
99.1
98.7
97.9
98.5
98.6
98.5
98.4
98.4
98.4
97.1
97.3
98.4
97.1
97.5

5.7
1.6
2.1
3.2
2.5
1.8
1.8
0.8
1.3
1.3
1.2
0.6
0.8
1.5
0.7
0.8
0.7
1.0
1.3
1.4
1.4
2.2
1.2
2.3
2.0

0.4
0.0
0.1
0.5
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.3
0.3
0.5
0.2
0.3
0.5
0.7
0.5
0.6
0.3
0.3
0.1
1.4
0.4
0.3
0.6
0.5

Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr

95.8
96.8
98.1
99.1
99.7
99.9

2.3
2.9
0.7
0.9
0.2
0.0

0.02
0.1
0.04
0.04
0.004
0.002

Cu

As

Ga

6
1
4
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
1
2
0.5
1
2
1
1
1
6
2
1
2
6
2

16
15
6
11
23
24
18
7
9
19
26
15
20
15
10
47
9
81
8
6
59
13
2
21
7

38
372
235
31
61
51
638
133
15
13
37
16
4
751
3
16
2
12
48
19
12
95
126
97
62

2
21
10
6
7
8

16 649
397
10 485
32
79
<1

21
8
17
3
3
10

Pb

Pd

Pt

Sb

Sn

Zn

2
2
9
7
7
4
3
0.2
0.4
1
1
0.4
0.2
90
0.5
0.3
0.3
0.4
1
11
1
3
5
16
9

30
30
230
196
135
104
37
0.1
0.2
1
2
1
0.3
0.4
1
2
1
4
71
109
3
47
36
175
89

4
1
1
1
3
1
3
0.5
1
0.5
2
2
36
0.1
0.5
1
1
1
1
0.2
1
49
1
2
2

45
3
7
4
6
6
18
2
2
1
3
3
5
1
1
3
1
12
2
0.5
5
3
3
13
7

129
162
55
97
47
62
56
21
21
62
71
30
69
37
37
56
10
101
10
26
132
61
10
91
32

84
<1
16
3
3
4

30
54
160
65
55
81

7
2
2
1
0.2
1

779
34
65
<1
<1
<1

44
51
22
25
15
17

A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

Region

590

Dynasty

ppm

ARCH4C06
11/22/02, 10:32 AM

272
311
320

Azerbaijan
Ardabil
Ardabil

93.9
90.0
87.3

5.0
8.0
11.1

0.9
2.0
1.4

7
22
35

3
<1
5

303
281
441

7
6
5

114
103
110

1
3
7

11
6
30

20
25
844

Al Jezirah

L1073
L998
L1043

294
274
283

Harran
Al Rafiqa
Al Rafiqa

93.0
91.0
90.6

5.9
8.1
7.9

0.9
0.4
1.4

22
67
37

8
8
11

162
3 412
161

7
18
4

145
111
98

9
7
25

19
23
16

52
58
96

Cilicia

L1080

294

Al Masisa

93.4

5.7

0.8

26

269

11

149

22

113

Jibal

L1081
L1147
L1006
L1044
L1076
L1126
L1127
L1128
L1129
L1011

295
320
268
287
294
305
310
314
317
276

Hamadan
Hamadan
Qazvin
Qumm
Qumm
Qumm
Qumm
Qumm
Qumm
Mah al Basra

95.5
95.4
95.9
98.8
96.4
94.9
91.7
90.3
93.7
93.9

4.0
3.9
3.7
1.0
3.0
4.5
7.3
8.7
5.6
5.0

0.5
0.6
0.2
0.1
0.5
0.5
0.9
0.9
0.6
1.0

10
11
7
3
8
13
25
20
8
12

5
19
10
0.2
<1
5
7
7
3
5

207
92
93
49
20
51
113
196
32
277

9
8
11
10
8
4
5
4
5
8

141
120
304
150
166
108
102
81
86
126

5
5
0.3
1
1
4
4
6
3
11

11
8
16
8
18
8
14
26
4
11

51
110
75
6
18
57
83
115
46
42

Iraq

L592
L597
L679
L770
L876
L883
L884
L928
L929
L933
L934
L945
L981
L993
L1015
L1017
L1018
L1045
L1133
L943

147
153
164
193
203
213
217
218
221
229
232
245
252
256
263
270
276
280
306
236

Baghdad?
Baghdad?
Baghdad?
Baghdad?
Baghdad?
Baghdad?
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Surra min raa

97.9
95.8
95.0
98.6
97.8
98.4
99.8
99.6
99.8
99.8
99.8
93.5
96.4
96.0
90.3
98.7
99.0
99.0
90.0
99.7

1.6
3.8
4.7
1.2
1.6
0.7
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.1
6.0
2.7
3.4
6.5
1.2
0.8
0.8
9.1
0.1

0.2
0.3
0.2
0.0
0.1
0.1
0.004
0.004
0.005
0.01
0.004
0.3
0.9
0.4
3.2
0.03
0.1
0.1
0.7
0.01

8
8
3
4
30
6
2
5
4
2
5
22
3
28
13
4
3
25
19
5

4
7
<1
14
2
8
4
6
3
3
3
1
6
8
<1
4
9
1
7
6

<1
171
17
131
2 490
6 924
92
165
439
<1
<1
918
46
<1
267
559
36
1 028
311
630

13
10
8
2
18
14
14
1
23
16
10
12
5
5
10
9
5
15
6
11

296
181
147
91
215
62
196
60
437
406
141
89
95
100
234
99
98
140
109
196

0.2
3
1
1
1
0.03
0.1
1
2
0.3
0.5
4
2
6
12
2
1
0.2
6
0.3

13
17
5
<1
20
18
<1
31
<1
<1
19
8
7
<1
82
8
3
<1
20
6

90
80
37
53
73
33
59
171
54
45
51
51
20
67
108
73
85
39
70
31

591

L995
L1115
L1116

The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

591

Azerbaijan

ARCH4C06

592

Table 5

(continued)

%
Dynasty

Region

Reference

Date (AH)

Mints

ppm

Ag

Cu

98.9
98.2
81.1
96.0
96.2

0.6
0.3
17.8
3.6
3.2

0.1
0.02
0.9
0.3
0.4

As

Ga

Pb

11
9
8
7
4

5
5
6
4
4

2 025
12 880
226
252
516

12
34
5
5
9

154
117
114
76
192

Pd

Pt

Sb

Sn

Zn

3
2
2
1
3

7
220
39
26
5

337
61
62
98
57

L944
L966
L978
L1000
L1023

240
248
252
265
258

Surra min
Surra min
Surra min
Surra min
Wasit

Khorazan

L946
L947
L948

238
243
247

Merv
Merv
Merv

98.0
99.9
99.8

1.9
0.1
0.2

0.1
0.01
0.002

3
1
3

2
<1
1

144
<1
<1

9
4
2

57
75
<1

2
1
5

10
4
<1

12
7
9

Khuzistan

L996
L997
L1117
L941
L942
L1118

269
270
317
237
244
320

Al Ahwaz
Al Ahwaz
Al Ahwaz
Al Basra
Al Basra
Tustar

86.6
90.1
87.5
98.4
94.1
84.8

11.5
8.3
11.3
1.3
5.5
14.0

1.6
1.4
1.0
0.01
0.3
1.1

40
18
45
6
7
23

7
16
18
4
9
8

866
141
305
<1
175
330

7
2
6
4
12
2

98
107
100
<1
132
99

15
5
9
5
4
10

124
51
16
808
13
11

239
357
91
141
26
100

Uzbekistan

L972
L980

251
253

Al Shash
Al Shash

98.4
92.4

1.5
7.5

0.01
0.01

3
4

6
<1

159
74

<1
1

<1
<1

166
400

6
6

31
16

Palestine

L1123
L1124
L1125

295
306
317

Filistin
Filistin
Filistin

95.4
95.2
90.7

3.8
4.1
8.1

0.6
0.5
1.1

13
11
5

11
10
8

240
123
149

8
5
5

129
96
119

8
5
3

20
13
16

73
47
47

Syria

L1074
L1119
L564
L566
L589
L1075
L1120

293
296
132
134
143
294
310

Aleppo
Aleppo
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus?
Damascus
Damascus

98.1
95.8
98.8
98.5
98.6
99.7
95.1

1.6
3.7
1.0
1.1
1.1
0.2
4.4

0.2
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.01
0.3

6
16
3
2
1
4
6

1
9
4
5
11
0.5
5

163
216
46
48
23
116
44

13
6
13
18
19
15
4

239
147
259
520
297
147
149

0.3
7
4
1
1
0.4
2

3
18
41
16
9
199
15

17
56
46
87
44
12
64

Transoxiana

L969
L970

250
251

Samarkand
Samarkand

95.9
97.2

4.0
2.7

0.005
0.003

2
5

58
24

<1
<1

<1
<1

5
11

39
58

592

Iraq

raa
raa
raa
raa

11/22/02, 10:32 AM

5
13

103
93

A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

Au

ARCH4C06

<1
<1
<1
<1
19

Samarkand
Samarkand
Samarkand
Samarkand
Samarkand

98.6
97.1
98.0
98.8
99.1

1.3
2.6
1.8
1.1
0.7

0.002
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

3
8
4
3
4

6
2
4
5
2

142
1 819
66
38
117

2
6
1
<1
2

Yemen

L926
L927
Voge1920
L973
L1004
L1005
L1121

221
223
224
249
273
275
314

Sana
Sana
Sana
Sana
Sana
Sana
Sana

97.8
89.7
87.6
98.7
98.8
99.0
87.3

2.0
9.2
11.6
1.2
0.8
0.9
9.9

0.1
1.0
0.2
0.04
0.1
0.0
2.6

2
13
12
3
7
4
34

15
27
35
17
16
7
34

45
211
2 909
<1
132
25
117

2
12
0.1
4
4
1
2

159
246
107
79
138
32
147

Tulunid

Egypt

L4
L5
L25
L30
L33
L46
L47

260
266
272
278
281
290
291

Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr

99.9
99.7
98.1
96.3
99.4
94.9
93.5

0.0
0.2
1.6
3.3
0.5
4.7
6.0

0.003
0.003
0.1
0.2
0.02
0.3
0.3

4
10
9
4
10
5
9

<1
25
21
90
10
43
34

3
2
2
4
2
3
5

26
22
66
129
37
74
127

Ikhshidid

Egypt

1974.1036.6
L62

344
353

Misr
Misr

99.5
99.5

0.3
0.4

0.03
0.03

<1
2

13
5

43
25

4
5

Fatimid

North Africa

1975.12
L69
1984.3
F10204(1904)
No reference
L96ter
L96(5)
L124
No reference
1972.1332
1972.1333
1970.269.5
1970.269.6
1970.269.7

318
322
326
333
342
351
364
365
487
309
319
325
329
332

Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Ifriqhiya?
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya

93.9
93.4
97.9
98.6
98.8
97.6
97.8
96.3
93.9
97.7
93.9
97.9
97.6
98.9

4.3
5.0
1.5
1.2
0.9
1.7
1.6
3.0
5.3
1.9
4.6
1.5
1.9
0.9

1.7
1.6
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.4
0.4
0.5
0.7
0.3
1.5
0.6
0.3
0.1

4
4
2
1
1
12
2
5
1
2
2
1
1
1

13
15
32
9
8
31
37
13
3
5
6
25
19
9

99
10
7
11
14
88
85
25
16
267
73
16
12
6

11
8
6
9
6
4
4
8
12
4
9
22
12
4

0.3
5
2
1
1
7
4

3
5
37
1
2

11/22/02, 10:32 AM

5
13
5
3
7

29
27
39
41
65

<1
28
12
<1
<1
<1
23

29
89
59
29
34
16
83

0.1
<1
2
3
0.2
2
1

<1
1
4
7
1
9
6

15
16
22
32
19
45
35

111
106

0.2
1

2
2

53
30

38
3
64
63
40
73
90
8
108
86
25
3
57
101

2
2
0.2
0.1
0.1
1
1
30
1
0.2
1
1
0.2
25

19
7
2
1
1
11
4
34
5
3
6
7
2
16

65
29
74
25
30
136
185
87
26
259
90
53
214
35

1
7
3
1
3
0.01
7

The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

251
253
271
273
276

593

L971
L979
L1001
L1002
L1003

593

ARCH4C06

594

Table 5

(continued)

%
Dynasty

Region

Reference

Date (AH)

Mints

ppm

594

Ag

Cu

As

Ga
6
20
21
56
15
8
4
10
6
23
34
13
20
26
17
18
19
2
0.2
24
16
10

16
42
59
34
137
9
39
12
5
90
194
27
10
35
17
235
321
10
23
29
60
63

15
15
11
10
13
7
1

111
55
21
23
72
14
31

1967.239
L89
L91
L92
L120
1970.17
L389
1972.1334
L107bis
L96bis
L108
1972.1336
1967.572
1974.1162
L152
L382
L383
1977. 51
1972.1331
1975.13
L87
1966.252

334
337
340
341
343
420
454
339
344
345
351
355
357
373
383
436
437
297
305
333
335
439

Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mahdiya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Al Mansuriya
Qairawan
Qairawan
Qairawan
Qairawan
Sabra

98.6
99.1
98.9
98.3
97.4
97.2
97.9
98.6
97.8
97.7
97.7
98.5
98.3
97.7
97.7
84.2
85.1
99.0
98.6
98.3
98.7
97.9

1.1
0.7
0.9
1.2
2.1
2.2
1.9
1.2
1.9
1.7
2.0
1.1
1.4
1.8
1.7
13.4
12.3
0.8
1.2
1.4
1.1
1.7

0.2
0.1
0.05
0.1
0.4
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.4
0.1
0.3
0.2
0.4
0.2
2.2
2.4
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1

0.1
5
1
1
4
7
2
0.4
1
4
1
<1
1
1
2
7
21
1
0.2
0.5
1
<1

Egypt

L100
L101
L102
L105
L142
L145
L148

361
363
363
364
366
372
379

Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr

97.4
98.3
98.7
97.9
98.1
97.5
97.8

2.1
1.3
1.0
1.7
1.5
1.7
1.9

0.3
0.2
0.2
0.3
0.2
0.7
0.3

5
4
6
6
3
4
2

11/22/02, 10:32 AM

North Africa

Pb

Pd

Pt

Sb

Sn

Zn

4
5
4
4
32
14
13
7
6
7
1
<1
13
26
41
10
10
11
8
7
6
<1

57
47
38
74
98
2
23
28
52
51
2
37
22
19
31
12
14
66
37
55
40
<1

0.1
0.4
42
0.3
26
2
0.2
0.1
11
1
<1
<1
0.3
9
0.4
1
8
2
0.0
0.01
0.4
<1

2
4
1
6
6
393
1
1
1
10
4
2
3
6
42
78
43
5
0.1
4
4
33

63
38
28
30
159
111
23
35
27
140
58
23
57
104
70
261
51
48
3
82
61
29

6
7
7
7
6
10
6

124
130
145
113
125
94
119

9
4
3
7
7
5
3

52
29
20
21
34
21
6

4
1
2
1
3
1
1

A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

Au

ARCH4C06
11/22/02, 10:32 AM

386
387
393
396
401
405
411
415
416
420
428
436
438
440
440
442
447
452
456
462
475
481
481
484
495
510
515
469
469
473
475
482
485
504
509

Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Misr
Al Iskandariyah
Al Iskandariyah
Al Iskandariyah
Al Iskandariyah
Al Iskandariyah
Al Iskandariyah
Al Iskandariyah
Al Iskandariyah

98.2
98.1
97.1
98.2
97.9
98.4
97.9
98.1
97.8
74.9
98.2
98.2
98.6
96.9
98.8
98.7
98.2
98.7
86.2
97.7
98.6
96.9
97.5
97.1
99.7
78.7
85.7
99.3
99.1
98.7
98.6
96.9
98.2
99.6
99.4

1.5
1.7
2.3
1.5
1.6
1.3
1.7
1.4
1.8
20.0
1.6
1.5
1.2
2.6
1.0
1.0
1.3
1.0
11.8
2.1
1.1
2.7
2.1
2.5
0.2
19.9
12.5
0.5
0.7
1.1
1.2
2.7
1.6
0.2
0.4

0.2
0.2
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.2
5.1
0.1
0.2
0.05
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.1
1.5
0.1
0.1
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.02
1.3
1.2
0.02
0.05
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.02
0.05

4
1
1
0.5
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
5
2
1
2
9
5
36
0.4
4
4
8
7
2
14
7
3
0.3
4
1
2
3
5
2

1
2
5
3
4
2
20
3
3
2
5
6
6
11
1
10
3
3
8
4
1
2
3
6
0.1
1
2
2
3
6
3
3
4
1
4

5
13
90
26
12
9
52
20
40
134
28
48
23
72
570
45
1 748
18
1 847
33
21
42
62
49
7
157
82
53
3
51
32
49
32
17
44

14
15
18
21
14
28
15
18
13
11
17
11
17
11
11
13
25
21
16
2
16
12
14
15
19
6
17
10
14
10
11
11
12
12
15

103
107
110
109
125
78
97
86
122
79
90
173
133
65
122
103
61
56
20
161
94
75
64
82
34
19
89
77
91
97
196
109
112
37
71

1
1
1
1
1
0.5
0.4
1
1
2
0.5
0.5
0.4
1
0.2
1
5
7
7
1
1
1
6
4
1
6
9
16
11
21
7
34
15
2
6

9
11
11
18
15
8
19
33
16
29
19
9
27
39
7
12
30
8
69
17
10
39
47
50
3
82
23
1 081
197
197
23
89
81
7
24

16
18
24
17
21
33
33
23
21
28
18
16
21
59
15
37
55
15
458
12
<1
28
53
91
2
97
42
14
9
22
13
20
22
9
31

The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

595

L150
L174
L179
L182
L184
L187
L188
L242
L244
L245
L351
L355
L358
L360
L361
L362
L366
L370
L373
L375
L376
L377
L378
L380
L418
L425
L429
L255
L256
L257
L261
L263
L267
L412
L413

595

ARCH4C06

596

Table 5

(continued)

%
Dynasty

Region

Reference

Date (AH)

Mints

Au

Ag

ppm
Cu

As

Ga

Pb

Pd

Pt

Sb

Sn

Zn

343
367
380
420
446

Sicily
Sicily
Sicily
Sicily
Sicily

98.1
97.5
96.5
90.1
91.3

1.4
1.9
2.7
7.9
7.4

0.3
0.5
0.5
1.7
0.7

10
19
15
20
19

37
22
38
23
8

111
182
256
258
83

27
11
<1
43
14

73
99
53
70
21

<1
<1
<1
<1
<1

5
24
27
51
63

144
130
198
177
41

Palestine

L349
L350

462
487

Acre
Acre

95.8
96.7

3.5
3.0

0.5
0.2

8
5

5
1

35
247

25
21

84
160

<1
11

26
21

40
23

Midrarid

North Africa

L929
L930
1982.1578

336
340
343

Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
?

94.9
96.4
97.6

4.5
3.1
1.8

0.4
0.4
0.3

6
5
5

26
4
23

37
17
16

2
3
4

1
3
3

95
4
2

13
67
266

84
49
86

Zirid

North Africa

1966.352
1966.58
1978.54
1985.545
1972.1338
L151

439
441
442
444
370
375

Sabra
?
?
?
?
?

98.9
98.3
98.2
94.2
97.7
97.8

1.0
1.4
1.3
4.9
1.8
1.9

0.03
0.2
0.1
0.6
0.3
0.2

7
0.2
8
6
4
3

2
1
52
30
19
41

3
2
29
71
32
31

12
4
6
33
11
55

9
4
5
23
29
12

0.03
0.1
0.3
3
0.1
1

1
1
272
158
117
78

12
6
99
93
91
132

Almoravid

North Africa

L508
L509
L510
L511ter
L512
SL1926.1338
L530
L554

456
462
468
473
476
476
495
525

Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa

97.4
94.6
95.8
94.8
95.2
96.2
84.9
92.6

2.4
4.9
3.8
4.8
4.4
3.5
12.9
6.9

0.1
0.5
0.2
0.3
0.2
0.2
2.1
0.4

4
2
1
2
1
1
<1
2

26
40
64
14
84
7
135
39

<1
3
2
2
2
<1
6
4

7
6
4
6
1
1
5
7

30
102
290
389
103
26
90
88

83
71
58
96
63
58
36
225

Almohad

North Africa

1967.142.5
L507
1967.142.1
F10248

528
528
580595
580596

Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa

96.9
90.6
96.9
93.6

3.0
7.5
2.9
6.0

0.1
1.9
0.1
0.3

1
1
1
1

7
16
76
169

10
20
12
9

0.5
1
2
6

5
40
104
49

10
10
17
684

11/22/02, 10:32 AM

9
5
8
13
4
2
<1
23
1
1
0.4
9

0.4
0.4
2
1
1
1
5
1
1
13
51
5

A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

L95
L134
L135
L217
L293

596

Sicily

The circulation of precious metals in the Arab Empire

597

Table 6 The composition of the analysed silver coinage. The coins belong to the Bibliothque nationale de France
collections and most of them are referenced in the catalogue of Lavoix (1891)

Dynasty/Type

ARCH4C06

Reference

Date (AH)

Mints

Ag (%)

Cu (%)

Pb (%)

Sassanian

Collection Morgan
19683870
Fouille Suse
Fouille Suse
M3357
No reference
M3342

34?
36?
36?
36?
37?
38?
36?

Nahr Tira
Nahr Tira
Nahr Tira
Merv
Merv
Merv
Furat-meson

94.0
94.6
87.8
91.1
92.3
94.6
93.8

4.5
3.9
9.8
7.3
6.4
3.7
4.8

1.0
0.8
1.6
0.8
0.7
1.1
0.9

0.5
0.6
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.5

ArabSassanian

L147
L139
L140
L141

65
58
63
68

Darabjird
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra

92.2
90.0
92.2
90.6

5.0
6.5
4.7
6.5

2.2
3.0
2.5
2.4

0.5
0.5
0.6
0.5

Ummayad

L201
L439
L490
L494
L378
L174
L175
L176
L410
L204
L331
L421
L503
L208
L341
L209
L211
L213
L344
L514
L551
L552

82
105
120
125
97
79
79
80
100
81
95
100
110
80
96
84
85
86
88
115
130
131

Al Kufa
Damascus
Damascus
Damascus
Darabjird
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Merv
Merv
Merv
Merv
Nahr Tira
Nahr Tira
Wasit
Wasit
Wasit
Wasit
Wasit
Wasit
Wasit

91.2
96.9
98.4
99.4
93.5
93.4
92.3
94.8
97.1
90.9
96.5
95.0
97.9
92.7
90.4
90.9
89.4
90.7
92.2
98.8
99.5
98.9

7.1
1.8
0.9
0.3
4.3
4.7
6.2
4.0
2.1
5.1
2.2
2.6
1.1
5.6
5.3
7.2
8.3
7.1
5.6
0.1
0.2
0.2

1.1
0.6
0.3
0.1
1.6
1.4
1.0
0.8
0.6
3.3
0.5
1.6
0.5
1.2
3.7
1.4
1.8
1.6
1.8
0.2
0.1
0.9

0.5
0.7
0.4
0.01
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.6
0.8
0.8
0.5
0.5
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.8
0.1
0.05

Abbassid

L579
L580
L639
L662
L668
L732
L734
L574
L575
L576
L615
L616
L620
L627
L699
L583
L584

132
132
137
150
155
165
167
133
135
136
138
139
142
147
160
133
134

Al Kufa
Al Kufa
Al Kufa
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Al Basra
Merv
Nahr Tira

99.2
99.2
99.1
97.9
99.3
99.8
98.1
98.6
97.5
96.1
98.9
99.2
96.2
96.2
97.7
98.2
98.6

0.2
0.1
0.4
0.1
0.1
0.0
0.3
0.6
1.6
1.7
0.5
0.2
1.4
1.5
0.1
0.5
0.7

0.1
0.1
0.5
1.8
0.1
0.1
1.4
0.7
0.7
2.0
0.5
0.5
2.1
2.0
2.0
1.3
0.3

0.4
0.5
0.1
0.2
0.4
0.003
0.3
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.3
0.1
0.3

597

11/22/02, 10:32 AM

Au (%)

598

A. Gondonneau and M. F. Guerra

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