Name of Object:

Token or weight

Location:

Rome, Italy

Holding Museum:

Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”

 About Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”, Rome

Date of Object:

Hegira 411–27 / AD 1020–35

Museum Inventory Number:

15348/ 21523

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Green glass.

Dimensions:

Diameter 2.2 mm, depth 4 mm, weight 2.4 g

Period / Dynasty:

Fatimid

Provenance:

Egypt.

Description:

Green glass token with a relief border, in a reasonable state of conservation, weighing slightly less than one whole dirham, which is 2.97 g. The token is marked only with a three-line inscription in kufic characters within a circle in the middle of the front face. The first line reads ‘al-imâm al-Zâhir’, the second ‘al azaz din Allâh’ and the third ‘amîr al-mu minin’.
Traditional Byzantine glass tokens were generally used as monetary weights, and this use was particularly common among Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs as well as among the Egyptian Tulunids and the Aglabids of North Africa. Shi’ite caliphs also used tokens for other means, particularly from the time of al-Mu’izz (AH 341–65 / AD 953–75). The fact that many of the tokens found are of identical weight suggests that they were used as ‘fiduciary coins’ in place of bronze coins, particularly as bronze was extremely rare in Egypt at that time. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that no glass tokens have ever been found in Syria, where bronze was abundantly available. These tokens are inscribed on at least one of their faces, bearing the name of the caliph and sometimes even the mint. Most Fatimid tokens come from the time of two caliphs in particular, Abu ‘Ali al-Hakim (AH 386–411 / AD 996–1021) and al-Mustansir (AH 427–87 / AD 1036–94), although a large number also come from the time of al-Zahir, al-Amir and other caliphs.

View Short Description

Glass token probably used as a fiduciary coin in place of bronze coin.

How date and origin were established:

Historical chronology (years of reign of Fatimid caliph).

How Object was obtained:

Purchase.

How provenance was established:

From the inscription with the name of the caliph.

Selected bibliography:

Balog, P. “The Fatimid Glass Jetons”, Annali dell’Istituto Italiano di Numismatica 20, 1973, no. 177, p.121.
Lane-Poole, S., Catalogue of Arabic Glass Weights in the British Museum, London, 1891.
Launois, A., Estampilles et Poids Musulmans en Verre du Cabinet des Médailles, Cairo, 1959.

Citation of this web page:

Paola Torre "Token or weight" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;it;Mus01;24;en

Prepared by: Paola Torre
Copyedited by: Pier Paolo Racioppi
Translation by: Laurence Nunny
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen


MWNF Working Number: IT 27