Castile (1190) morabitino Fr-101
This specimen was lot 1089 in CNG Triton XXIX (New York, January 2026), where it sold for $6,737.50. The catalog description[1] noted,
"SPAIN, Castile & León. Alfonso VIII el Noble (the Noble). King of Castile, 1158-1214. AV Maravedí – Morabitino. Tulaitula (Toledo) mint. Dated Safar era 1228 (AD 1190). In NGC encapsulation 6881832-004, graded MS 63.
"The morabitini ‘form the most interesting monetary development of twelfth-century Spain... Alfonso VIII of Castile, who had the highest proportion of Moorish subjects and was the ruler most connected with the Muslim world, struck at Toledo, from the 1180s onwards, gold morabitini or alfonsini with Arabic inscriptions that were Christian in content. They were dated not by the Christian era or by the Hijra but by the ‘Spanish’ era, reckoned from the ‘conquest’ of Augustus in 38 BC.’ (Grierson, p.103)."
These, the sole gold coin of the reign, are listed in Cayón for Safar era 1212 thru 1252. Few European states west of the Byzantine Empire were striking gold coins in the twelfth century.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 26 mm diameter, 3.79 g, 2 h axis.
Catalog reference: Cayón-1023; MEC 6, 360-2 var. (date).
- 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.
- 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.
- [1]Gasvoda, Michael, Victor England, Eric McFadden, Dave Michaels, Bill Dalzell and Lance Hickman, Triton XXIX, Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, LLC, 2025.
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