À propos de la fonction des disques légers en verre à inscriptions arabes d’époques fāṭimide et post-fāṭimide: ṣanaǧāt ou jetons fiduciaires?
The function of small glass discs, some with inscriptions some without, made in Egypt between the Fāṭimid and Mamlūk period, have been the topic of a debate between two prominent numismatists. Michael-L. Bates maintains that the coin-like discs were used as coin weights (sanaǧāt), as it had been in...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | French |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2016
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| In: |
Der Islam
Year: 2016, Volume: 93, Issue: 1, Pages: 101-138 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | The function of small glass discs, some with inscriptions some without, made in Egypt between the Fāṭimid and Mamlūk period, have been the topic of a debate between two prominent numismatists. Michael-L. Bates maintains that the coin-like discs were used as coin weights (sanaǧāt), as it had been in the Early Islamic period. On the contrary, Paul Balog and other scholars consider that these objects were used as tokens with monetary function. They point to the absence of bronze coins in contemporary circulation, and the fact that quantities of them were sometimes found as a hoard. They regard them as fiduciary coinage for low value transactions. In an attempt to settle this controversy, the article suggest, by re-iterating the numismatic arguments, the silence of textual sources regarding the possible monetary function, and a rare passage in the work of al-Muqaddasī, a dual use of the glass discs as coin weights and as substitutes for monetary purposes. |
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| ISSN: | 1613-0928 |
| Contains: | In: Der Islam
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/islam-2016-0005 |