Al-Andalus (1163-84) 1/2 dinar
This specimen was lot 47758 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2026), where it sold for $1,080. The catalog description[1] noted, "ISLAMIC KINGDOMS. Almohads (al-Muwahhidun). 1/2 Dinar, ND (AH 558-580 [1163-1184]). Abu Ya'qub Yusuf I. NGC MS-63." The Almohades invaded Muslim Spain from Morocco and crushed their predecessors, the Almoravids. Abu Ya'qub Yusuf was wounded at the Siege of Santarém (1184), in which he died on the road to Seville, near Évora. He had dinars struck in Bougie, Tlemcen, Tunis, Fez, Marrakesh, Seville and Ceuta but the half dinars, such as the one shown here, lack a mintmark.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 2.32 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-703, Fr-6; A-483; Haz-494.
- Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2026 NYINC Showcase Auction, Ancient and World Coins, featuring the Kazmier Wysocki Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
Link to:
- al-Andalus AH 537 dinar, Ali Bin Yusuf, Seville mint
- al-Andalus (1145-46) qirat Ishaq ibn 'Ali, Cordoba mint
- Castile (1184) morabitino Fr-101
- al-Andalus (1184-99) dobla, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Abd al Mu’min al Mansur
- al-Andalus (1249-67) dobla, Abu Hafs ‘Umar al Murtada
- Coins and currency dated 1163