Rights Holder: Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service
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COIN

Unique ID: SF-9EB484

Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation

Arabic gold dinar identified by Luke Treadwell. The coin is an Almohad half dinar of Abu Ya'qub Yusuf I (AH 558-80/AD 1163-84), struck in North Africa (the mint is not named) between 1168 and 1184. Abu Ya'qub Yusuf has the title 'amir al-mu'minin' on this coin, which dates it after AH 563/AD 1168. This type is described in Stephen Album's 'A Checklist of Islamic Coins' (no. 483) as 'relatively common', but the find has considerable historical interest of course. Mark Blackburn of the Fitzwilliam Museum has confirmed that the closest parallels to this coin were two gold dinars of Ali b. Yusuf that were reported to have been found in London, near St Paul's Cathedral, around 1879.

Subsequent actions

Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder

Chronology

Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1168
Date to: Circa AD 1184

Dimensions and weight

Quantity: 1
Weight: 2 g
Diameter: 20.63 mm

Discovery dates

Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 25th April 2006

Personal details

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Materials and construction

Primary material: Gold
Completeness: Incomplete

Coin data (numismatics)

Category: Non English coin
Obverse description: Arabic inscription within and outside central square.
Reverse description: Arabic inscription within and outside central square.

Coin references

No coin references available.

Spatial metadata

Region: Eastern (European Region)
County or Unitary authority: Suffolk (County)
District: Babergh (District)
To be known as: Wattisham

Spatial coordinates

Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.

Discovery metadata

Method of discovery: Metal detector
General landuse: Cultivated land
Specific landuse: Character undetermined

References cited

No references cited so far.

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Timeline of associated dates

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Audit data

Recording Institution: SF
Created: 16 years ago
Updated: 11 years ago

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