Granada (1333-54) dobla
This specimen was lot 1322 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 39 (Winter Park, FL, May 2026), where it sold for $12,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"SPAIN (Al-Andalus), Nasrids, Granada, AV dinar, Yusuf I, 734-755 AH, NGC MS 62, finest known in NGC census, ex-Tonegawa. Beautiful example with choice strike and strong luster for the assigned grade (single finest at NGC). Note that Vives incorrectly describes the last two lines of the reverse.
- Obverse (IA):
قل اللهم مالك الملك تؤتي الملك من تشا وتنزع الملك ممن تشا وتعز من تشاء وتذل من تشاء بيدك الخير Say: O God, Sovereign of the Kingdom. You give power to whom You will and take it away from whom You will. You exalt whom You will and humble whom You will. In Your hand is all good. IM: Marginal legend distributed across the four segments: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم / صلى الله على سيدنا محمد / وألهكم إله واحد / لا إله الا هو الرحمن الرحيم In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate / May God bless our lord Muhammad / And your God is One God / There is no deity except Him, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
- Reverse (IIA):
ا الأ عبد الله سف يو مير بن أمير المسلمين أبي الوليد إسماعيل ابن فرج بن نصر أياد الله وأسعده The servant of God, Yusuf / Amir Yusuf / son of the emir of the Muslims Abu / al Walid Isma‘il / son of Faraj, son of Nasr Ayad. / May God grant him happiness. IIM: Repeated in the four segments. ولا غالب إلا الله There is no victor except God.
Following the Almohad defeat at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, al Andalus entered a new phase of political fragmentation with the emergence of several local powers. In this context the figure of al Mutawakkil ibn Hud gained prominence, leading from Murcia a movement of resistance against Almohad authority. Shortly afterward, amid conflicts with the Banu Hud, the Kingdom of Granada emerged, founded by Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr, known as al Ahmar, who proclaimed himself emir of al Andalus. After a period marked by alliances and vassalage agreements with the kingdoms of Castile and with the Hafsid emirate of Tunis, the Nasrid state consolidated its territory as the final Islamic polity in the Iberian Peninsula.
Nasrid gold and silver coinage largely preserved the metrological and formal framework inherited from Almohad issues, though it developed a distinctive epigraphic style of its own. Among its most characteristic features is the dynastic motto “wa la ghalib illa Allah” (“There is no victor except God”), placed within the outer segments of the square frame. As in Almohad coinage, Nasrid dinars rarely include a date, although the mention of the reigning sovereign and his predecessors usually allows a relatively precise chronological attribution.
During the Nasrid period Andalusi coinage experienced its final major phase. Despite the gradual reduction of territory, difficulties in the supply of precious metals, and the constant pressure of the Christian kingdoms, the rulers of Granada maintained their right of coinage until the very end. The progressive reduction in metallic fineness, the production of small gold denominations and copper fulus, and the repeated presence of the dynastic motto reveal a clear propagandistic and symbolic function. With the fall of the Kingdom of Granada in 1492 the history of Andalusi numismatics came definitively to an end, closing a long historical cycle marked by a remarkably rich artistic and epigraphic monetary production. NGC #8437663-010. Pedigreed to the Tonegawa Collection (stated on label), Auction II (Aureo & Calicó 439, November 2024, lot 479)."
The Muslim dominions in Spain were reduced to the kingdom of Granada by the late thirteenth century but there the Reconquista stalled as the various Christian kingdoms fought among themselves over the newly conquered lands.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 4.69 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-761, Vives 2167 var; Medina 243 var; R. Lorente 8 var; al Nasr YU1:1.3 (online catalog); Numismática Nazarí-8 var; IV Jarique, p. 49, no. 26.
- 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]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing, Connor Falk and Sarah Sproles, Auction 39, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, featuring the Jorge Ugaz Collection of Lima Silver Cob 2 Reales and the Darby Collection of Guatemala Silver Cobs, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2026.
Links to:
- Castile (1350-69)-S dobla Fr-105
- Granada (1417-29) dinar, Muhammad VIII al-Mutamassik
- Coins and currency dated 1333