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 CHECKLIST OF
ISLAMIC COINS

THIRD EDITION

STEPHEN ALBUM
 This is a free online PDF version of
Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Edition (2011)
by Stephen Album

It may be freely distributed for research and

collecting purposes. It may not be reproduced
for commercial purposes or for a profit.

A single copy may be printed for personal use

only. (Though it would likely be less expensive
to just buy an official softcover copy from us!)

All copyrights remain the sole property of

Stephen Album and/or Stephen Album Rare
Coins Inc. in Santa Rosa, California.

© 2020 Stephen Album Rare Coins Inc

www.stevealbum.com
 Checklist
of
Islamic Coins
Third Edition

Stephen Album

Third Edition, November 2011

PUBLISHED BY

STEPHEN ALBUM RARE COINS

P.O. BOX 7386
SANTA ROSA CA 95407
www.stevealbum.com
steve@stevealbum.com

TELEPHONE: 707-539-2120 FAX: 707-539-3348

COPYRIGHT © 2011 BY STEPHEN ALBUM

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

ISBN 978-0-615-56244-5
 The author and manager of that superb website, Vladimir
Belyaev, has applied my appropriate Checklist number to most of
INTRODUCTION the photos, and I am immensely thankful for his efforts.
Collectors of Islamic coins have long bemoaned the lack of GENERAL INFORMATION
general literature on the subject. In particular, there has never This introduction has been kept as brief as possible, though
been a general listing of Islamic coin types that could serve as a I confess that it grows from one edition to the next, despite my
convenient guide to what exists, what is readily collectible, and promise otherwise. For information regarding how to read and
what is rare. For that reason, it occurred to me back in 1992 to decipher Islamic coins, the work of Richard Plant is
compile just such a listing, which could be made available to recommended (see the bibliography). However, Plant’s guide is
collectors and dealers at a nominal cost. In order to keep the cost only a beginning, and the potentially serious collector of Islamic
to a minimum, the first edition (1993) was without illustrations, coins should familiarize himself with the various calligraphic
inexpensively printed from laser output, and held together by styles used over the centuries and should acquire at least a basic
saddle-stitch binding. At first I had intended that the second understanding of the Arabic language.
edition (completed in 1997, published in 1998) would include
photographs of perhaps 800-1000 coins, but after reconsideration, General historical information can be found in the works of
I decided to issue the second edition without photos and prepare a Mitchiner, Album, and Broome cited in the first section of the
separate photo supplement that hopefully will be published within bibliography. There is as yet no really adequate history of Islamic
six months after the second edition of the text. In this manner coinage and no prospect of this gap being filled in the near future.
I could limit the cost of the text volume, and allow those who Certain rather arbitrary decisions have been made in choosing
wish to have the photo supplement to order it as a separate what to include and what to exclude. Included are coinages from
publication. Morocco and Spain to Afghanistan and Xinjiang, from the
Alas, my intention to complete the photo volume quickly beginning of Islam in the 7th century to the introduction of
vanished. At the end of 1997 I left for Oxford, England, where I machine-struck coinage, which varies from region to region.
worked as a researcher and part-time lecturer at the Ashmolean Thus the coinage of Morocco extends to 1882, the Ottoman
Museum, associated with Oxford University, where I stayed until Empire to 1687 (when European style minting was implemented),
the middle of 2000, although I periodically came back to Iran to 1878, the Caucasian khanates to 1826, Afghanistan to
California to devote about two weeks each time to my coin 1891, Yemen to 1905, and Central Asia to 1921. Coinage of India
business. Upon the conclusion of my Oxford sojourn and Southeast Asia is excluded, save for a few Indian issues
I concentrated on the long process of resuscitating the business. struck by included dynasties that briefly extended their power east
Doug Nicol had left in 1999 to return to Pennsylvania and of the Indus River (e.g., Ghaznavid, Afsharid, Durrani), and a few
establish his own trade in genealogy. In 2001, Joseph Lang, then minor dynasties whose territories lay entirely to the east of the
searching for a job in the numismatic trade, convinced me to hire river in the Sind region of Pakistan (e.g., Habbarid and their
him. His contribution proved so successful that in 2004 we contemporaries).
reorganized the business as a joint partnership between us, as it I have devoted a considerable amount of thought to the
remains to this day. question of what constitutes a type. Different criteria have been
As these years rolled by, it seemed logical that I should used for the coinage in precious metal (gold and silver) and for
abandon the idea of a photo supplement and commit my time to a the copper coinage, as the two categories served different
third edition, complete with photos. Although my original monetary purposes and were regarded juridically as distinct
intention was to complete the work in 2004 or 2005, entities. For much of the earlier Islamic precious metal coinage,
postponement became the rule of law. Finally, early in 2008 until the 11th century, most rulers issued only one principal “type”
I committed myself to finishing the job, hopefully by end of 2008, for silver coins and one for gold. These “types” can be defined
but delay after delay entered the picture. At last, I finalized the more narrowly, if differences in inscription, layout and
descriptive text on 27 July 2009, and hope to have the intro- ornamentation are taken into account. Having introduced this
duction finished within a few weeks and a PDF version (without concept in the 2nd edition, I’ve continued to expand it for this
photos) posted online in September. Most of the photos have edition. Most of these subtypes are numbered point-X, i.e.,
been completed, but I will wait for about another nine months #219.1, 219.2, etc., for the silver dirhams of al-Rashid. This
before the hardcover printed and illustrated edition will appear. method enables the numismatist to identify a piece either by
As for the PDF version, it remains uncertain whether that might subtype (#219.2) of by generic type (#219).
become available, and if so, when. Later silver and gold coinage exhibits “types” in a more
The first edition of this Checklist was intended as a convenient modern sense, defined either by designs, inscriptions, or
record of Islamic coin types, within the geometric and chrono- metrological criteria. These criteria are more readily described in
logical criteria described below, together with a subjective clear and concise language than are the subtypes of the pre-12th
estimation of the rarity of each type. This second edition added century material. Nonetheless, type distinctions are rather
further information, including, for each dynasty or sub-dynasty, arbitrary, contingent on the interpretations of individual scholars.
an indication of the most frequently encountered mints and In many cases, my definitions of types have been based as much
subtypes, as well as general information on quality of strike and on accessibility to the relevant literature as on any inherent aspect
average preservation. Metrological data were generally not of the coinage itself, especially for those series for which present
provided, except where deemed essential for the classification of literature is seriously obsolete.
types. Like the first edition, the second edition was intended The copper coinage (fulus) of the early period (Umayyad and
especially for the beginner and the more advanced general ‘Abbasid) was essentially a civic coinage, with each mint
collector, but not for the specialist, who needs detail far beyond producing its own sequence of types, though there were
what can be included in a synoptic guide. But for the general occasional attempts to regulate the copper on a regional basis.
collector, the Checklist could serve as a basic framework from The ruler’s name is rarely cited, but names of local governors or
which he or she can construct parameters for assembling a finance directors frequently appear on the fulus. The early copper
collection. It should also constitute a useful reference for dealers. is listed here by mint. In general a single type number is assigned
For the third edition, I have greatly expanded the descriptive to each mint, irrespective of how many local “types” that mint
information for individual types and subtypes, aspiring to present might have produced. After the middle of the 3rd/9th century,
more details that might help the reader identify their coins. When copper disappears as a coinage medium in most of the Islamic
the printed illustrated volume becomes available, there will be world. When copper coinage reemerged, starting the late eleventh
more than 1000 illustrated coins. Fortunately, the internet is now century, it was most often a regal coinage, on which the name of
providing thousands more photos, over 32,000 at www.zeno.ru. the ruler is usually given, without the names of local or
subordinate officials. Thus most copper coins of the 11th-14th

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 1

century are listed under the issuing ruler. By the 15th century, renumber their coins. Frustrated users of many popular catalogs
anonymous civic copper coinage once again prevailed, especially are thoroughly disheartened by having to remember sections of
in the eastern regions. For that reason, the later eastern coinage is their collection or stock. To minimize this exasperation, new type
listed as civic coinage by mint. An exception is the later western and subtype numbers have been assigned according to the
copper coinage, especially the Ottoman, which is listed by ruler, following scheme:
as determined by date or design, whether or not the ruler is named (1) Variants of previously listed types or types closely related
on the coin. Types of the central and western dynasties that to listed types have been given the number of the existing type
cannot be assigned to a given ruler, for whatever reason, are noted plus a suffix letter, e.g., 1235A, 1235B, etc.
as generic types at the end of the appropriate dynasty listings.
(2) Completely new types have in general been given the
Rare and unusual types are sometimes omitted from this number of the following listing plus a prefix letter, e.g., A1235,
Checklist, especially donative and largesse issues. Some minor B1235, etc.
dynasties are left out, as are some petty rulers, rebels and
governors in whose names coins were struck, especially from the (3) When an existing type has been divided into subtypes, the
8th to 12th centuries. Moreover, not all types are mentioned for latter are indicated by “point” numbers, e.g., 1235.1, 1235.2,
every rulers, especially multiple and fractional denominations. 1235.3. Point numbers allow the collector to decide whether to
For the earlier dynasties, there are major subtypes defined by acquire one coin to represent the general type or to seek examples
inscriptional content, but these are rarely distinguished in the of each subtype.
listings. The roughly 5,000 listings could have been expanded to For this third edition, in a few cases it has been deemed
ten thousand or more. In many cases the choice to include or omit necessary to change catalog numbers from the second edition.
a type, or to conflate several “types” into a single entry, was made These changes are indicated by an asterisk (*) following the
rather arbitrarily, reflecting more my mood at the moment than catalog number. I have tried my utmost to keep such alterations
any fixed set of criteria. to a minimum.
For most dynasties, there exist no comprehensive catalogs, no In general, I have not included reference citations for individ-
general guides, no overview of what exists and what does not. As ual types, especially those included either in the references given
a result, many listings are tentative and will eventually have to be for individual dynasties, in the general references and museum
augmented or ameliorated. My intent here has been to produce an catalogs noted at the end of this introduction, or in the collections
introductory Checklist as quickly as possible, yet at the same time of the American Numismatic Society, the British Museum and the
making it is as comprehensive and accurate as feasible under University of Tübingen. Commencing with the second edition,
those constraints. Generally, I have erred on the side of inclusion, for unusual types not covered by the above-mentioned references,
together with further details for identification. I have tried to include at least one citation in a footnote, though
as I hope that in future editions, numbering changes can be not as consistently as I now wish I had. Should I ever do a 4th
kept to an absolute minimum. As a frustrated user of many of the edition, in sha’ Allah, I might consider expanding the references.
more common popular catalogs, whose numbering systems seem Because the new catalog numbers are alphanumeric rather than
to change daily, I am altogether sympathetic with the plight of purely numeric, a numeric algorithm is needed in order to enable
collectors and dealers condemned to renumber substantial a computer to recognize the correct order of entries. Such an
portions of their collections every so often. Therefore, with minor algorithm can be easily created, and a serviceable example is
exceptions, first edition numbers continue to be retained.1 presented here. The following algorithm will effectively handle
I have tried to include all common types, and hope that I have all catalog numbers of the second edition, and hopefully will
omitted none. For the 2nd and now the 3rd edition I have require no modification for the anticipated third edition.
endeavored to include a far greater representation of rare types 1. The numeric portion is to be regarded as a FOUR-DIGIT
than in the first, though numerous omissions remain. Omitted compound. Thus #4 is 0004, #38 is 0038, #420 is 0420, and
types may in general be considered very rare, though they are not #2188 is 2188. (NOTE: Not all database programs require the
necessarily high-priced. Unfortunately, some individuals will use of leading zeroes, but they are always necessary if you want to
utilize the expression “not in the Album Checklist” as justification sort within a word-processing program).
for a stiff price, an unwarranted hyperbole in all too many 2. If there is a letter before the numeric portion, convert that
instances. letter to its numerical position in the alphabet, ALWAYS with
Some types may wrongly have been omitted, and some leading zero for number equivalents between 01 and 09. Thus
included types should perhaps be dropped from future editions. A=01, B=02, C=03.....J=10, K=11.....Z=26. Add this as a suffix
Comments and suggestions are always welcome, and I shall try to to the main numeric portion. Thus #A847 becomes 084701,
reply to them personally, so far as time and energy permit. #Z1651 becomes 165126, etc.
CATALOG NUMBERS 3. If there is no letter before or after the numeric portion,
append 50 to the numeric. In other words, #38 becomes 003850,
The use of the catalog numbers by collectors, dealers, scholars, #2188 becomes 218850. The addition of the “50” will insure that
etc., is expressly permitted, for both personal and commercial use. catalogued numbers with prefixed letters always come before the
Users are requested to refer to the catalog numbers as “Album plain number.
numbers” or “A-numbers.” Rarities may be freely cited, but the
author shall not be held accountable for any inaccuracy or for any 4. If there is a letter after the numeric portion, then append the
dispute arising over the accuracy of rarity indications. Moreover, numerical equivalent of that letter PLUS 50 to the basal number.
many of these rarity, or more accurately, availability factors will For suffixed letters, A=51, B=52, C=53.....J=60, K=61.....Y=75,
change over the course of time, as the result of changes in supply Z=76. Note that no leading zeroes are needed for suffixed letters
or demand. as they are all 50 or greater. In this manner, #38A becomes
003851, #2188N becomes 218864, and so forth. This will assure
For the second edition, more than 1600 additional types were that catalog numbers with suffixed letters always come after the
added, and at least 1000 more types or subtypes have crept into plain number.
this third edition. However, I have deemed it essential to retain
the catalog numbers as used in the first edition, so as not to 5. If there are letters both before AND after the number, contact
encumber the users of this Checklist with the burden of having to me so that I can change the number in the Third Edition!
6. If there is a point number following the listing, place
1 A collector in Florida recently pointed out to me that a mixture of numbers a decimal point after the numerical equivalent and add the value
with letter prefixes and suffixes, as well as point-numbers, is very difficult to of the point number, ALWAYS using a leading zero for numbers 1
organize on a computer data base. I would be grateful to hear from other through 9. This #215.3 become 021550.03, #A1261.11 becomes
readers if this is indeed the case, and am open to suggestions for alleviating 126101.11, #2274A.8 becomes 227451.08, etc.
this problem.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 2

 With a modicum of experience, one should find this algorithm quantity, usually in museum collections, but have not become
quite simple and easy to use. However, I would be grateful to available in the market.
hear of any problems encountered in its application. Until now How does rarity translate into price? There is no hard and
I have only tried this algorithm on the Macintosh platform, using fixed rule, for there are too many determinant factors. In general,
Microsoft Word, FileMaker Pro, Nisus and Excel, so far without average grade coins—and “average” varies widely from one
any problems. I would assume it will work just as smoothly in series to the next—are available (silver & copper) as follows: A
Windows, though as a chauvinistic Mac addict I tend to feel sorry (under $30), C (from $10-$75), S (from $15-$200), R (from $30-
for those mired in a Windows environment. 400+), RR (from $75-600+), and RRR (very variable, for coins in
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS attractive condition almost always $100+, often $1000+,
occasionally $10,000 or more, sometimes a lot more).
The idea for the first edition of the Checklist germinated as the
result of a conversation, in which it occurred to me that I could For gold coins, the first two classes can generally be acquired
use the hand list of the collection at the University of Tübingen, for no more than $75-$500 for average coins, rarer items for
together with my thirty years of experience as both collector and somewhat more to very much more. The prices of common gold
dealer, as the basis of a general collector guide. Over the years, coins have become increasingly volatile, affected by the gold
dozens of collectors, scholars, and dealers have helped me to bullion price, which has soared from about $300 to around $1200
improve my knowledge of Islamic coinage, especially novices, per ounce over the past several years, plunging to a pittance of
who always seem to ask the most challenging questions. To all $256/oz in April 2001 and skyrocketing to a dizzy $1217/oz on
these people, and to all those who have written about Islamic 1 December 2009, having settled at $1112/oz as I rewrite this
coins over the past two centuries, I owe a great debt of gratitude. paragraph (20 December 2009, but about $1650/oz in October
2011). Assuming the Umayyad and early ‘Abbasid dinars are
Since the publication of the first edition, I have received pure gold ― 98-99% purity is normal―the “melt” value would
suggestions and corrections from many scholars and collectors. have increased from a miserly $35 to $166, settling at $152 today
In particular, I wish to thank Gregory Cole and Michael Bates, (now up to $168 on 19 August 2010, with a standard Indian
both of New York, for their careful critical perusal of the first mohur at $430 melt). Back in 2001, nice very fine common date
edition. ‘Abbasid dinars sold for about $150, more than four times bullion,
Special thanks are due to Jim Farr of Tallahassee, Florida, who whereas nowadays, the retail price ranges between $200 and
has graciously accepted the thankless task of proofreading the $300, often cheaper at auctions, less than twice its bullion value.
second edition manuscript, and he located many errors and Because this is an unsustainable margin, the retail price should
inconsistencies. There are bound to be many errors and stylistic increase to at least $300 or twice melt, unless, of course, the spot
inconsistencies remaining in the text, for which I alone am price of gold retreats to well below $1000/oz, which seems to be
responsible. unlikely, now that the recovery from the Great Recession will
And a special accolade to Dr. David Bivar, who back in 1964, proceed slowly for many years.
when I was living in Tehran, took a few hours of his time to teach The spot price of silver has also quadrupled since 2001, from a
me the basics of Islamic numismatics! That’s where it all started. paltry $4/oz to over $17/oz, briefly surpassing $20/oz in March
2008 and again in early 2010, then briefly reaching $48/oz in
RARITY & VALUE early 2011, finally settling at around $32/oz (October 2011).
Each listing is provided with an estimation of rarity, or more Since both wholesale and retail prices of ordinary Islamic dirhams
precisely, of availability, according to the following schema: have traditionally averaged at least tenfold the melt value, the
stunning spot price increase has not destabilized their market
A Abundant Readily available, often in wholesale values, as for gold. The principal exceptions are common large
quantities. silver coins, such as the Moghul Indian rupees, with an average
C Common Almost always available, but only melt value now exceeding $6.
occasionally in quantity.
The record price for an Islamic coin was reached in Zürich in
S Scarce Usually available without long delay, 1989 for a post-reform Umayyad dinar of the year 77, about
hardly ever in quantity. $400,000 (about $700,000 in 2011 dollars), though subsequent
R Rare Demand outstrips supply, and sales records for that coin have been substantially less, most
specimens, when available, are often recently (Morton & Eden auction, March 2006) less than
eagerly sought. $250,000 for a complete set of dinars dated 77 through 132, thus
RR Very rare Seldom available. Collectors may have in effect less than $175,000 for the year 77.2 Furthermore, the
to wait years to locate one. collecting of Islamic coins is still in its infancy. New finds are
RRR Extremely rare Almost never available. Few collectors constantly coming onto the market, with the result that rarities and
will ever have the chance to acquire prices must often be downgraded, though the greater availability
these pieces. of a previously unobtainable type often acts as a market stimulus
for other related types, thus effectively heightening the overall
In some cases, variants described in the notes to a given type prices of the series.
are followed by their rarity in parentheses.
To gain a feeling for current prices, the collector must study
These rarities are somewhat subjective. What is rare for one fixed price lists and auction sale catalogs. Serious collectors are
series may be considered rather common for another, due to the advised to keep a record of prices in their areas of interest, keying
vagaries of collector interest and patterns of supply. In general, sale and offer prices to Checklist numbers, and if desired, also to
poorly researched and sketchily published series are less avidly specific mints, dates and subtypes. Unlike heavily traded series in
sought than those for which adequate literature exists. Coins ancient and modern coins, Islamic coins have little track record.
readily found in higher grades tend also to be significantly more Prior to about 1970, Islamic coins were only rarely individually
popular than those which are routinely badly struck or badly listed by dealers, save for some gold, pictorials and other well-
preserved. Certain regions, such as the Arabian peninsula, Spain known rarities, but were more often just cursorily described in
and Palestine, have gained a larger following, and are thus bulk lots. Since then, prices have shown wide fluctuations and
relatively “rarer” than others of which a comparable quantity are will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the
known to exist. entrance or departure of one or several active collectors can
In a few cases, the availability indicator is followed by seriously alter the prices. There is old joke: Two known, three
a question mark (?), indicating that I have been unable to
determine the present rarity of the type, usually because supplies 2 More recently, a dinar of Ma‘din Amir al-Mu’minin 91 (type #127K) sold
of indefinite size are known to have entered the market, even if for about $450,000 (where?), but despite the relatively low inflation between
not readily accessible. Types marked *** are known to exist in 1989 and 1999 this is in real terms less than the 1989 price of $400,000.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 3

collectors, you have a winner; but three known, two collectors, The multiple dirhams were extremely rare prior to the hoard, with
throw one in the river. most known specimens in Russian and Scandinavian museums.
Until recently, printed catalogs and handwritten notes were the An immense hoard of Tabaristan hemidrachms, allegedly more
sole sources of pricing information. This has been radically than 100,000 specimens, was discovered in northern Iran in the
altered by the growth of the internet. Most of the major auction 1950s or early 1960s. I had the privilege of seeing the immense
houses now post the prices realized online for everyone to view, hoard of more than 37,000 Sasanian drachms in the Tehran
normally filed in an archival section of the company’s website. market in 1965, stuffed into piles of cigar boxes, each containing
Furthermore, there are two new general websites that each 500 pieces, known as the “year 12” hoard, as the latest coins in
provide prices realized for hundreds of auctions. The first of the hoard were of regnal year 12 of Khusro II.
these is www.sixbid.com, which not only features the results of Since I began collecting Islamic coins in the 1960s I have seen
past auctions, but posts current and forthcoming auctions and hundreds of hoards. Prior to the early 1980s, hoards were usually
provides a convenient means of bidding in many current sales. marketed intact, largely because even the greatest rarities were
Previous sales are held for about a year, but links are provided to incredibly inexpensive, with silver and copper coins almost never
each of the contributing auction houses. Access to Sixbid is free. costing more than a few dollars. Thus there was little reason for a
The second is www.coinarchives.com, which has posted the dealer to sort out the rare from the common. By the end of the
descriptions, photos and prices realized of more than 750,000 1990s, complete hoards were almost never marketed as such.
coins (as of December 2009), including tens of thousands of The distributors selected the items they perceived as most
Islamic coins offered at auction since 2001. The free version of profitable and either sold them to the dealers who might pay the
Coinarchives offers to the public the results of auctions that took highest price, or consigned them to principal auctions, mainly in
place during the previous six months. The subscription version, England and Germany. The remainder were then sold to
www.pro.coinarchives.com, provides all records since 2001.3 secondary dealers or promotional salesman, often very attractively
There are also many specialized websites that list and illustrate priced, as the principal profit was extracted from the rarities.
private collections and general reference, usually without prices or It is clear that newly discovered hoards can drastically reduce
indications of rarity. rarity once they appear in the popular market. They often provide
In this Checklist, the rarity indications refer to the type, not to types or variants that were previously unknown.
individual mints, dates, or variants within the type (unless All too often, new hoards are marketed rather insidiously.
otherwise specified). In some series, such as the Umayyad For example, at first one or two specimens might be consigned to
caliphate and the Ottoman Empire, both with a long history of auction, in hopes that bidders would be unaware of the size of the
collecting interest, the difference in value between a common hoard and would thus assume that the consigned items were still
mint/date and a rare one is enormous, up to 100-fold or even of great rarity. For example, in the early 1990s a large hoard of
more. For the Umayyad dynasty, common Wasit and Dimashq Ilkhan gold dinars was discovered, terminating with specimen of
dirhams in decent condition sell for $20-$60 and extremely rare Ghazan Mahmud dated 696. A dinar of his immediate
mints continue to fetch $10,000 or more (reckoned in 2009 & predecessor, the short-reign Baydu, was auctioned in Switzerland,
later). Even extremely rare dates of Wasit or Dimashq can realize fetching a sizzling bid of $8000, with a second specimen
far more, over $1000 for either mint dated 132. In most cases, auctioned shortly thereafter, sold at about $5000. Then small
however, the differences are very much less, particularly among groups were offered to many dealers throughout the world, at
more obscure series that are little collected in depth, where “rare” prices between $500 and $1000 each. It gradually became
mints have a small premium and “rare” dates little if any. apparent that there was a very large hoard containing an unknown
Collectors should structure their interest in a direction that will quantity of dinars of Baydu. Eventually, the retail price collapsed
avoid chasing the impossible. In general, most coins up to rarity to about $250, though recently, largely due to the spectacular rise
R can be found with relatively little trouble within a reasonable in the gold price (about $1378 as I write this paragraph), they now
lapse of time, though the fickle nature of hoards means that bring about $400-500. In my opinion, this hoard was deceitfully
certain types might be virtually unobtainable for several years, marketed. Had the size and contents of the hoard and been
then suddenly abound for a brief duration. Collectors seeking honestly publicized, the price would never have fallen below
coins listed as RR and RRR must be prepared to wait and search, $500-600.
and should reckon on the frequent disappointment of missing out As I write this section (October 2010), a number of superb
at auction or failing utterly to find an example for their collection. Rum Seljuq gold dinars have popped up in auctions, at first
For coins of rarity R or higher, collectors should assume that they fetching over $10,000, falling to $4600 (plus buyer’s fee) by
will probably have to accept coins in whatever grade is available September 2010. The rumor spread that there were dozens of
or do without, or at least to pay whatever the price might be. these coins in a new hoard, and most recently I was informed that
Collectors driven by artistic esthetics who search solely for the there were at least 300 pieces, mostly Konya 648 of the Three
finest quality and the highest grade must understand that such Brothers (type #A1227, formerly RRR).
“perfect” specimens rarely exist. There are some exceptions, e.g.,
Umayyad dirhams of Wasit and Dimashq, Ilkhan coins of Abu Another former rarity now increasingly common is the dinar of
Sa‘id, Fatimid dinars of al-Mustansir, etc., but for most other the Bavandid ruler Mardawij (#1530), especially of the mint of
series, perfectly struck examples either do not exist or are Mah al-Basra dated 322. Although first sold at over $2000, coins
phenomenally expensive. I have never seen a well-struck silver or of this mint & date are now virtually unsalable. My current
billon coin of the Fatimid al-Mustansir, whereas beautifully estimate is that are at least 150-200 in the hoard, but nobody
preserved dinars are relatively common. knows just how many. And there are many more hoards that have
been equally immorally marketed.
HOARDS
METALS
Old coins are normally discovered either as signal finds or as
part of a large group, known as a hoard, which can vary from just Nearly all pre-modern Islamic coins were struck in the three
a few pieces to many thousand. One of the most massive hoard traditional metals, as inherited from the Roman and Sasanian
was composed of over 30,000 multiple dirhams of the Samanids, Empires, gold, silver and copper, together with a few additional
Ghaznavids and Banijurids, found somewhere in Afghanistan in but infrequently used alternatives.
1967, with a total weight exceeding 200 kilograms (420 pounds). AV Gold This refers normally to fine gold, usually 90% or
better. Lighter gold is known as pale gold, which
3 The full version in not inexpensive, currently offered at $600 per year is noted in the description. The term “electrum”
(2010), understandable, considering the technical complexity of the program. is not used here as a description.
As a dealer, it is essential that I subscribe to the full version, which I use
almost daily to justify both my fixed prices and auction estimates, as well as
how much I should pay for additions to inventory.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 4

 AR Silver Although early Islamic coinage was relatively pure too unwieldy a number for a book intended for general use. Thus
(90-99+%), by the 4th/10th century, silver was I have had to be selective in my application of these and other
often debased, especially during the years 350- criteria. While some collectors will accept my idiosyncratic
620 / 960-1225. classification, others will disagree vehemently. Since I cannot
BI Billon Debased silver, normally 20-40% fine. The symbol please everyone, I have chosen first and foremost to best5 please
“AR” is used for silver coins roughly 40% or myself. However, I remain open to suggestions and criticisms for
better. Billon jitals are usually much less than future editions of this Checklist. Indeed, most emendations
20% fine. between the first and second editions have been in response to
AE Copper Refers to both relatively pure copper and copper suggestions from others.
mixed with other base metals. 4
CONDITION
Brass Brass Used only by a few relatively late series, such as
the coins of Harar in Ethiopia (not abbreviated). With very few exceptions, all coins covered in this catalog
were struck by hand, from hand-engraved dies on handmade
Tin Tin For pre-modern Islamic coins used only in
Southeast Asia, thus not included here.
planchets. Standards of quality control varied enormously from
place to place and from time to time. Surprisingly, the early
PB Lead Occasionally found for medieval Islamic coins, Islamic silver and gold coins, from the first issues in the AD650s
mainly in Bahrain & the Sijistan region. to the middle of the 9th century, are generally the most carefully
Glass Glass Used in Egypt for items that are traditionally manufactured of all, only matched after the adoption of European
classified as weights but are now believed to have milling machinery, starting about 1690 in Istanbul. After the
also been used as jetons from the Fatimid to ninth century, quality control deteriorated in most regions, though
Mamluk periods. frequent, almost invariably short-lived, production improvements
There are many other metals used on later modern coins, such were undertaken in various parts of the Islamic world from time to
as aluminum, copper-nickel, pure nickel, etc., but these do not time. Perhaps the best example would be the Murabitun and
occur on any coins listed here. Muwahhidun gold coinage (and to a lesser extent, also silver)
from 450-668 / 1057-1269.
There are often wide differences within a single series. For
example, some of the Qarakhanid dirhams began as very pure Most coins struck from about 235/850 to the end of the era
silver, then rather quickly sank to billon and eventually to pure encompassed by this catalog will show varying degrees of
copper, usually within just a few decades. Because there has only weakness of strike, irregularity of flan, and general unevenness of
been limited investigation of gold and silver fineness for most quality. For most dynasties I have tried to give some indication of
dynasties, the use of AR, BI and AE is often rather theoretical. the level of quality the collector can expect for each metal. This
Some types, especially AR and BI, include a rather wide fineness is merely a general indication, for in most cases, actual production
variation, and may need to be reinterpreted in the future (e.g., quality can vary considerably from mint to mint and from year to
Buwayhid dirhams after about AH360). year. Dealer lists, such as my own, do give some general
information on this subject. However, for the vast majority of
TYPES types listed here fully struck coins are seldom if ever available.
What constitutes a type in Islamic coinage? Unfortunately, For some series, such as the Ildegizids or the later Seljuqs of
it is impossible to establish a general rule that is appropriate for Kirman, coins with 50% of more flatness are the norm.
all periods and dynasties. At the most basic level, a type is a In general, gold coins were struck most carefully, silver rather less
distinct denomination for a particular ruler, which for the earlier so, billon and copper quite haphazardly.6
period (before about AD 1150) would often mean a gold dinar, There is also a wide range of variation in how coins have been
a silver dirham and a copper fals. However, even for issues of the preserved. A large proportion of Islamic gold coins saw little
earliest times, there is no convenient and consistent means of actual circulation and are thus with relatively little wear and
defining the concept of “type”. For that reason, type definitions damage since they were struck. Silver in many periods saw
have often been quite arbitrary, based to some extent on the widespread circulation, depending, however, on the nature of the
author’s preference (and knowledge!), and on the manner in coinage and the economic necessities. In those cases where the
which collectors are inclined to classify them. Understandably, silver coinage was frequently recalled and recoined, the coins had
no two collectors or scholars would ever agree completely on the little opportunity to wear down in circulation. On the other hand,
criteria for determining which variants constitute distinct types, coins that remained currency for many decades, as in the case of
versus which are merely unimportant variants of a single type. the Mamluk kingdom, are commonly found heavily worn. This is
Types can in fact be distinguished by quite a range of different not surprising, given that 14th century Mamluk silver hoards
criteria. For example, they may differ by the citation of caliphs, frequently contain coins over 100 years old.
overlords, governors or other subordinate officials, as well as Many extant Islamic coins from all periods and regions have
heirs to the throne. They can vary in the arrangement of portions survived because they have been used as jewelry or ornament.
of the inscription or in the selection of titles for a particular ruler. This fate is readily identified, as they are either holed, looped, or
For later coins, after roughly 550/1150, types commonly vary by show other traces of having been mounted. The more attractive
the enclosing cartouche around all or a portion of the coin the coin, the more likely it is to have been chosen for jewelry or
inscriptions on obverse, reverse, or both. They often differ by other decorative purposes. Special coins made for presentation or
weight standards, which were commonly reduced (very rarely largesse were especially favored for decoration. Many, such as
increased!) during the course of a ruler’s reign. The issuance of the multiple abbasis of the later Safavids, are almost never found
multiple denominations became increasingly common during the unmounted. Collectors should avoid the temptation to reject an
later period, blossoming only after the adoption of modern otherwise attractive coin just because it has been pierced or
machine struck coinage not treated in this work. Some coins bear mounted.
pictorial or geometric designs, which also changed during a
reign—this is especially true for the non-dynastic Iranian civic
coppers. To include every variation, no matter how minor, the 5
number of “types” would surpass perhaps 50,000 or 100,000, far Although the insertion of an adverb between "to" and the verb in an infini-
tive construction is traditionally regarded as grammatically incorrect, modern
usage increasingly accepts this aberration. As a vehement believer in the
4 Jitals struck in eastern regions and in India circa 1050-1300 are categorized concept of linguistic evolution, I am inclined to adopt modern usages, even
as copper, but frequently contain small quantities of silver as required by when technically incorrect.
current monetary regulations. For two alternative interpretations of this 6 A major exception to this rule is the jital, which despite its relatively
phenomenon, see John Deyell, Living without Silver, and Robert Tye, Jitals. minimal monetary value was ordinarily quite carefully manufactured, far
Some jitals also include significant proportions of other metals, such as lead more carefully than contemporary silver or gold amongst the Khwarizm-
or antimony. shahs, Ghorids and Mongols, the principal western issuers of jitals.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 5

 Over the past few years, grade differentials have translated into were struck to disparate standards (still almost entirely
ever greater price differentials. Truly superior specimens may unresearched), with varying levels of tolerance from the
command many times the price of an average one. Since the theoretical norm. For nearly 200 years, gold and silver coins
publication of the first edition of the Checklist, this tendency has followed the prescribed weights quite closely, with no diminution
accelerated, as we have seen the formation of multiple tiers of of fineness (close to pure at most mints), though some outlying
collectors, each tier concentrated largely within one general price/ regions were already developing idiosyncratic weight standards of
grade niche, as has happened in many other areas of numismatics, their own (e.g., Yemen, Tabaristan, Andaraba, etc.).
for both collectors and investors. After the beginning of the 10th century, the nature of Islamic
ENCAPSULATION, AKA SLABBING coinage rapidly changed. Both gold and silver coins were no
longer of relatively uniform weight, but exhibited weights spread
While most people might regard a “slab” as a delicious Texas over a wide spectrum. Such coinages were intended to be
beef steak they are drooling to devour, the term nowadays also weighed (al marco), rather than counted (al pezzo), at each
refers to a plastic encapsulation containing a coin and a statement transaction. In the meantime, copper had largely vanished as a
of its grade and identification. Because of the ever expanding coinage medium throughout the Islamic world, replaced by such
price differentiation between adjacent grade levels, collectors and alternatives as broken pieces of fine silver coins, and later,
especially investors have become increasingly fearful of starting at the end of the 10th century, by low-grade billon coins,
overpaying for their acquisitions. Thus the “slab” was introduced containing between about 2% to more than 25% silver.
in the early 1980s as a means of guaranteeing the grade of a newly
purchased coin. The major “slabbers”, i.e., independent third Regional differences continued to grow. By the 12th century,
partly grading companies, will guarantee their assigned grade, there was no longer any resemblance among the various coinages
should the grade be disputed some time in the future. For many within the lands of Islam. Increasing numbers of new
American coins, the difference between the value of two different denominational names came into existence. The use of fractional
uncirculated coins, between something like MS-64 and MS-67, and multiple denominations, especially in silver, became more
can be thousands and thousands of dollars. common. New standards of weight and alloy were promulgated
and were frequently changed for reasons of monetary policy or
At the present, most pre-machine-struck coins are not financial necessity. Each kingdom and empire created its own
submitted for third-party grading and encapsulation. Until the late coinage standards or emulated those of neighbors with whatever
1990s, slabbing was virtually restricted to United States coins, but emendations were felt advantageous. Nor was it necessary to
in recent years, the tendency has spread to most world coins maintain a single standard throughout a kingdom, especially in the
valued at more than a few hundred dollars. By now (2010), more eastern Islamic lands. Conquerors frequently retained the local
and more pre-machine-struck coins are slabbed, be they ancient, monetary standards in whichever regions they acquired.
medieval, or more recent. Thus far, slapped Islamic coins are few Sometimes gold and silver coinage adhered to an accurate weight
and far between, though from time to time I myself have been standard (al marco), other times to no standard at all (al pezzo).
asked by a customer (we often now call them “clients” instead of
customers!) to submit an Islamic coin for encapsulation. DENOMINATIONS
If acquisition of rare Islamic coins comes to be regarded more Coin denominations were rarely indicated on the coins
as investment than numismatic enjoyment, it is likely that themselves prior to the 19th century, with a few exceptions
slabbing Islamic coins will come to predominate for expensive described below. Many of the names given to particular coins are
items. Personally, I find the very concept utterly disgusting, as an purely conventional, assigned by modern numismatists seeking a
obnoxious disregard for the intellectual pleasure of collecting.7 convenient label with which coins could be readily discussed
But trends will prevail in the direction predominant within the without confusion. In fact, we usually do not know what coins
market, whence we numismatists, whatever our predilection, must were actually called prior to the expansion of European trade into
follow the herd or retire. the Islamic world in the 16th century. Only thereafter are the
And as I revise this introduction, I must confess that my names of the coins known with some reliability, largely based on
numismatic business, Stephen Album Rare Coins, is now reports written by western traders and travelers, though popular
authorized to send coins to NGC (Numismatic Guaranty names and official names often remain irreconcilable, as was
Corporation). And I confess that Joe and I are now selecting frequently the case in contemporary Europe.9
some high-grade machine-struck coins to be slabbed, especially The names of denominations given here represent those most
for our auctions. C’est la vie! There were more than 50 slapped in vogue among current numismatists and may bear little
coins in our auction #11, machine-struck only. relationship to the nomenclature of the time. Coinage prior to
Slapping in not cheap, but costs an average of $20-30 per coin about 700/1300 is generally known under the generic names of
(currently at least $60 each for Chinese coins) for standard dinar, dirham, and fals, irrespective of actual weights, which
processing, typically 4 to 8 weeks, much more for rapid reply. could vary not just from one region or time to another, but within
However, the grading companies will charge considerably less for a single issue of the same mint and date. After about 1300, a wide
a large quantity of identical machine-struck coins. Shipping costs variety of denominational names came into use. Whenever those
are additional. Thus is hardly makes sense to submit coins worth names are known, they have been indicated in the listings here.
less than around $100, though I have occasionally observed Many older publications present weights in English grains.
slapped coins worth less than a few dollars. These can be converted easily to grams: one gram = 15.432
grains; one grain = 0.0648 grams.
METROLOGY
In the early Islamic period, at least through the fourth century
The initial Islamic denominational structure was largely Hijri, the three principal denominational names were fals (from
adopted from previous Byzantine model in the west, the Sasanian Latin follis) for the copper coin, dirham (from Greek drachm) for
model in the east. The Islamic reform of the caliph ‘Abd al-Malik the silver coin, and dinar (from Latin denarius aureus) for the
in 77/697 unified the coinage throughout the Islamic world,
introducing a gold dinar of about 4.25-4.26g and a silver dirham
of about 2.88-2.90g (eventually raised to 2.97g).8 Copper coins dinar standard, or 2.97g. The process whereby this occurred is imperfectly
understood.
9 A poignant example is the modern Iranian rial. The term rial was never
used in the colloquial, where it was called either hazar or qiran. Ten rials is
7 Perhaps this deep disappointment secretly conveys me to misspell that one toman, and all sums of 10 or more rials are reckoned in tomans. Only in
mystical word, “slapping” rather than “slabbing”, one of my more common the banking and financial industries is the term rial commonly used.
typos. And B is far from P on our computer keyboards! Similarly, in the United States the one-cent coin is almost always called a
8 At first the dirham weighed about 2.88-2.90g, perhaps as high as 2.92g. penny, despite the 1792 regulation that technically forbad the use of that
After a short time (circa 85/704) the standard was adjusted to 7/10 of the them: it should only be called a cent.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 6

gold coin. On occasion, fractions or multiples of these Dangi — From the Persian dang, meaning a “sixth”. Used for some rare
denominations were also struck. From the late 3rd/9th century silver coins of Iran in the 12th and 13th century and for most copper coins
onwards, in many areas the denominations referred not to actual in Central Asia from the 15th century onwards. The term is occasionally
found incorporated into the inscriptions of late 15th and early 16th century
coins but to a unit of account corresponding to a fixed weight of coppers of Central Asia.
metal; actual coins were weighed and valued in terms of the unit Daniq — Arabic rendering of Persian dang, found occasionally as a
of account. A great deal of confusion has arisen from the fact that denomination on early Islamic copper coins.
in histories and documents both the coins and the account unit Dinar — From Latin denarius, a Roman silver coin since the Republic (also
were often designated by the same terminology. the denarius aureus for the contemporary Roman gold coins). Since silver
During the first seven centuries of Islam, dinars and especially denarii was rarely issued after the 4th century, the short term dinar became
dirhams were commonly known by an attributive name, e.g., the Arabic name for the Byzantine gold solidus. It became a gold coin of
4.25-4.26g under the reform of ‘Abd al-Malik in 77/697. From the middle
muzaffari dirham. These names referred often to the name or title of the 3rd/9th century onward, gold dinars were struck to increasingly
of the issuing ruler (in this example, a ruler with the title muzaffar random weights in most areas. By the end of the following century the
al-din), or to some other descriptive ideology. These attributive fineness also began to deteriorate in some areas, especially in the east. In
names very rarely appear on the coins, but are often known from Khorasan and parts of Central Asia in the latter part of the 12th century, it
contemporary documents and later historical texts. The main was essentially a silver coin, often with a light gold coating. The Mongols
exception is a relatively small group of late Qarakhanid, introduced a silver dinar into Iran, at first as a unit of account, then from
698/1299 onwards, as a silver coin, initially weighing about 12.97g,
Khwarizmshah, and Great Mongol coins, chiefly their broad though its weight gradually fell at Tabriz to about 0.54g by the end of the
copper “dirhams”, as well as many silver coins of the Ghaznavids. following century. The dinar has remained a unit of account in Iran ever
In later times, many additional terms came into use, which are since, though its value has become infinitesimal in recent decades.
briefly described below. The following list is undoubtedly Dinar Kebeki — A name for the dinar established by the Chaghatayid ruler
incomplete and does not include a plethora of terms used for Kibak Khan in 722/1322 or shortly before, and used for the dinar of the
milled and machine-struck coins outside the scope of this catalog. Chaghatayids, struck until about 765/1364 (about 8.0g). It was subse-
quently adopted as an accounting term for silver coinage of the Timurid
Also omitted are attributive names applied principally to the dynasty and their successors in Iran until the 17th century.
dinar, dirham, and fals. Many, if not most of these, are included Dirham — An Arabicization of Greek drachm, still the silver denomination
is the 1879-1882 work of Sauvaire, noted in the bibliographic of Arab-Sasanian coinage prior to the reform of 77/697. Originally a
section of this introduction. silver coin of about 2.90g introduced in 78/698 by the reforms of ‘Abd
In the following definitions, I have use AH and AD dates when al-Malik, its weight was increased to about 2.97g within a decade or so.11
referring to specific years, AD only when referring to centuries. The term often refers to silver coin generically, and its plural dirahim is
‘Abbasi — A Safavid coin equal to four shahis (200 dinars), introduced in used for “money” in general. From the 10th century onwards, the weight
996/1578 and named for the current ruler, Shah ‘Abbas I. It became the and fineness of the dirham varied considerably, both over time and from
place to place. In Central Asia, the dirham became a copper coin, often
principal Iranian silver denomination for almost 200 years.
lightly silver-washed, from the late 11th to the middle of the 14th century,
‘Adliya — A name for a copper coin in Iran in the 14th-16th centuries, from occasionally struck simultaneously with pure silver coinage bearing the
the Arabic word ‘adl, “justice”. same denomination, but not necessarily the same value. In the Jazira and
Akçe — Turkish for “small white (thing),” first attested in Iran in about the Caucasus, it was a large bronze coin (typically 10g+) from about
780/1378, and later used for the smallest denomination of silver coinage 540/1145 until about 630/1235; the pictorial bronze dirhams of the Jazira
throughout the Ottoman empire, until circa 1250/1835. The term is never are perhaps the best-known of all medieval Islamic coins. The term has
found on the coin. Some 14th-16tth century issues are mentioned in recently been revived as a denominational term in several Arab countries,
contemporary texts randomly as either akçe or dirham. The akçe was but no longer struck in silver, save for a commemorative “coin” struck in
often called asper in European texts, from the Greek work aspron, also the UAE in 2000.
meaning “white”. Dirham Aswad — “Black dirham”, so-called because its low silver content
Altın — A Turkish name for the sultani (q.v.), meaning “gold” in Turkish. gave it a blackish color, typically 20-30% silver but sometimes less, the
The term sultani is preferable for all issues before the 18th century. rest copper. Struck in Syria, Egypt and the Jazira from the 5th/11th to the
Ashrafi — A gold coin introduced by the Mamluk ruler al-Ashraf Barsbay in 7th/13th centuries, sometimes replaced by large copper coins called
“dirham”. Also called nuqra (q.v.).
829/1426, and valued about the same as the Venetian ducat. The name
was first inscribed on a coin during the reign of the Timurid Sultan Dirhem — The Turkish spelling of dirham, used for Ottoman coins of this
Husayn (#A2431). Later versions of the ashrafi often were set to different denomination.
weight standards. The name still survives in Nepal as a gold coin called Dobla — The European name for the gold dinar of the Muwahhidun and
asarphi, much heavier than its original intention. their successors (about 4.6g). Because the term suggests duality, Hazard
Asper — See akçe. and others presumed that the gold coin of 4.6 grams was not a dinar but a
double dinar. The error was first corrected by Robert Darley-Doran in the
Azadi — The modern gold coin of the Islamic Republic of Iran, retaining the early 1980s (now described as dobla in Wikipedia).
weight of the previous Pahlavi, equal to the modern British sovereign.
Do Dinar — “Two dinars”, used on copper coins of the Amir of Qunduz,
Beşlik — A Turkish term meaning a “piece of five”, used for a silver coin of
5 akçes in the 17th century (including the Giray Khans), 5 para in the 18th a rare incidence of denominational statement on a pre-modern coin.
& 19th centuries. Doshahi — Literally, “two shahis”, the common name for the Safavid silver
Bisti — From the Persian bist for “twenty”, a Persian coin fixed at 20 dinars, coin of this denomination, rather than the official name muhammadi.
originally a small silver coin struck occasionally in the 16th and 17th Drachm — The well-known Greek silver denomination, conventionally used
centuries, later a relatively large copper denomination.10 for Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian silver coins. The Arabic term dirham is
Bunduqi — A gold coin of the Alawi Sharifs of Morocco equivalent in derived from this term.
weight and fineness to the Venetian ducat, though occasionally struck at a Écu — French for a dollar-size coin (cf. Spanish escudo), used as a denomi-
lower weight (bunduq = “Venice”, cf. German Venedig). nation for a few rare coins of the Sa‘dian Sharifs of Morocco.
Buqsha — A Yemeni denomination of the 17th century and later. The origin Fals — The Arabic name for the Byzantine copper follis, it became the
of the name is obscure. It was mainly a unit of account rather than a standard copper denomination in most of the Islamic world from earliest
physical coin before 1312/1895. times. Its weight varies considerably, from less than a gram to as much as
ten grams or more. In modern Arabic it is usually pronounced fils. Its
Canonical dirham — Not a denomination, but a term used by numismatists plural, fulus, is a generic term for “money”. The term also means “fish
to refer to the dirham of 2.97g that represented the “classic” dirham from scale” and was applied originally to coins of small size.
about the 9th century onwards.
Dahshahi — “Ten shahis”, used for the Afsharid rupi and the Qajar half riyal Falus — From the Arabic plural fulus of fals, used as both a denomination
and as a generic term for any copper coin in Iran, Afghanistan and Central
and half qiran. Asia from the 16th century onwards. The Arabic plural fulus also has the
Dam — An Indian copper denominations typically applied to a heavy coin of generic connotation of “money”.
15-20 grams, used by the Durranis, mainly in Kashmir.
Damma — A tiny medieval Indian silver denomination, perhaps used for the 11
small “fractional” dirhams of the Amirs of Sind and the Ghaznavids. Recent analysis of surviving Umayyad and ‘Abbasid dirhams in superb
condition suggests that from the late 80s/700s until at least 100 years later,
the theoretical weight of the dirham was about 2.94g rather than 2.97g, thus
somewhat lighter than 7 tenths of the well authenticated 4.25/4.26g weight of
10 Is this how the rock band The Beastie Boys got their name? the Umayyad reform dinar. Further research necessary.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 7

Fidda — Arabic for “silver”, a term for the Indian tanka, found on some of Mitkal — Moroccan spelling of mithqal, briefly struck by the ‘Alawi Sharif
the silver tankas of Delhi but not on any of the coins included here. Muhammad III as a heavy silver coin equivalent to ten dirhams, weighing
Funduq — See “sultani”. The Moroccan gold coin of this denomination is about 29.3g and intended to compete with the Spanish-American ocho
usually called benduqi. Like bunduq, the name derives from the German reales, a commonly used silver coin in Morocco, but profitable to Spain.
transcription (Venedig) of the city name of Venice in Italy. Mohur — From Persian muhr, meaning “stamp”, used in India from the 16th
Gümüsh — Turkish for “silver”, used for various paras and other small silver century for a gold coin of about 11 grams, where it was struck until 1949.
coins of the 10th/16th and 11th/17th century. Following Nadir Shah’s conquest of Delhi in 1737 it was introduced into
Iran for several decades, and into Afghanistan until the mid-19th century.
Halala — A Yemeni denomination name, equivalent to 1/80 riyal, first used
in or just after 1322/1904, and derived from the crescent that appears on Muhammadi — See mahmudi.
the obverse of those copper pieces. The term is still a denomination in Muzuna — A Moroccan denomination for silver coins equal to ¼ of a dirham
Saudi Arabia. in the 18th-19th century, perhaps also earlier. The term was used for some
Harf — A Yemeni denomination of uncertain origin, believed to have been machine-struck copper coins beginning in AH1306.
applied first to the Ottoman gold sultani in the 16th century. It later Nim Mithqal — See mithqal.
became a small silver coin, and eventually a tiny billon coin almost devoid Nim Tanka — “Half tanka”, found as a denomination on some rare coins of
of any silver. By the mid-19th century, the harf was a minuscule coin of the Shaybanid ruler, Muhammad (#2979).
almost pure copper, worth about 1/4000 of a Maria Theresa thaler.
Nisf — Arabic for “half”, used occasionally for coins of various metals. The
Hemidrachm — “Half drachm”, used for the standard silver denomination of name is actually inscribed on Umayyad half dinars and on some Mamluk
early Tabaristan. It is more likely that the coin was known as a tabari half dirhams, later on some copper coins of Akbar in India.
dirham, known from contemporary sources as a “dirham of five”, i.e.,
weighing five-tenths of the Sasanian dirham (i.e., drachm). Nuqra — An alternate name for the “black dirham” (dirham aswad) of the
Ayyubids in Egypt, but later, during the Mamluk period in Egypt, it may
Jendaq (Jendak) — A term meaning “fish scale”, applied to some rare 1/6 have referred to a high-silver dirham of ⅓ silver.
rupee coins in 19th century Afghanistan because of their small size.
Onluk — A Turkish term meaning a “piece of ten”, used for a silver coin of
Jital (Arabic jaytal) — The name of a small denomination, used mainly in 10 akçes in the 15th to 17th centuries and later for a coin of 10 paras.
India and what is now Afghanistan, ultimately derived from the silver
dramma of the Shahi kings of Kabul, whose name was in turn derived Pahlavi — The name of a modern Iranian gold coin, struck from SH 1305/
from Greek drachm. By the 11th century it was essentially billon, often 1926 until the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1357/1979. Since SH1310/
pure base metal or nearly so. The denominational name actually appears 1931 its weight and fineness have been identical to the British sovereign.
on a few rare types (e.g., Tye #351, 358). Panahabadi — The local term for the abbasi of the Khanate of Karabakh.
Kabir — Arabic for “large”, a Yemeni denomination of the 17th-19th Panjshahi — Literally, “five shahi”, a Safavid denomination used from time
centuries of uncertain and apparently changeable weight. to time in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Keshvarsetan — A gold denomination used in the last five years of the reign Pashiz — A small copper coin of the Sasanians, whose production continued
of Fath ‘Ali Shah (#2870-71), derived from a title granted to Fath ‘Ali into the Arab-Sasanian period. The term seems to have become a generic
several years earlier in AH1240. The term means “world conqueror”, term applied to any small copper coin in the 7th and 8th centuries and has
which Fath ‘Ali was not! survived as a literary term for anything of minimal value, much like the
Kran — see qiran. English term farthing.
Kharruba — Name of the carob seed, formally a weight equal to 1/24 of a Piastre — see qursh.
mithqal. Coins of this weight and denomination were struck by the Pul — From the Turkish, originally a generic term applied to any copper coin
Fatimids in Sicily. The term was revived in the 18th & 19th centuries for in Russia and Central Asia from about the 13th century onwards. In Iran it
billon & copper coins struck in Ottoman Algeria & Tunisia. was used for a silver coin fixed at half a shahi, i.e., 25 dinars, during the
Khums (or Khamsiya) — A Yemeni denomination theoretically equivalent to 16th and 17th centuries. The term remains in use in Iran as the ordinary
one-fifth of a qafla, but in fact widely varying in weight (khums = “fifth”). word for “money”. Hich pul nadaram!
Contemporary documents also use the term khamsiya rather than khums, Qafla — Not a denomination per se, but the Yemeni name for the standard
and sometimes the term is said to have been khums kabir (“big fifth”). dirham weight, theoretically 2.97g but sometimes slightly heavier or
Also the name of a rare gold coin of the Alawi Sharifs of Morocco lighter. Most medieval and early modern Yemeni denominations are
(usually pronounced khumaysi in the Moroccan dialect). described in contemporary accounts as fractions or multiples of the qafla.
Larin — A trade coin used in 16th to 18th century Iran, in 18th to 19th century In the 20th century its weight became 1/10 of a Maria Theresa thaler,
Arabia, and intermittently on the western coast of India and especially in which would be approximately 2.81g.
Sri Lanka. The term derives from the city name of Lar in southern Iran. Qaz — A Persian copper denomination equivalent to five dinars of account,
Larins were struck on silver blanks that resemble a modern hairpin, and used from the 16th to the 19th century and occasionally found inscribed on
were at first intended for trade between the south coast of Iran and the coins (qaz or ghaz) of Iran and Afghanistan.
southern India or Sri Lanka. Imitative types were struck mainly in Sri Qazbegi — A Persian copper denomination equal to ten dinars of account;
Lanka, and later debased billon types (19th century) in eastern Arabia equivalent to two qaz.
(locally known as tawilah). The term “laari” remains a denomination in
modern Maldive Islands. Qiran (Kran) — An Iranian silver denomination first struck in 1240 / 1824-
1825, derived from the title sahebqeran (sahibqiran), introduced in that
Mahmudi (or Muhammadi) — A Safavid silver coin equal to two shahis, year by the current ruler, Fath ‘Ali Shah. It is often spelled kran in
derived from the name of Muhammad Khudabanda, the Safavid ruler, and European languages, and was thus adopted on late 19th and early 20th
apparently conflated with the somewhat akin Gujarati denomination century Iranian postage stamps, locally printed in Iran. The term has been
(mahmudi), from a local sultan named Mahmud. preserved in modern Iran as an alternative name for the rial.
Manat — The Azeri and Uzbek Turkish word for “coin” or “money”, from Qirat — Ultimately of Greek origin, cognate to the English word carat. The
the Latin moneta, applied to the Rubles struck at Khwarizm during the name referred to the weight of a particular seed and was equivalent to 1/24
Soviet years AH1338-1339. It is now used as the currency in the republics of the mithqal. A few rare copper coins bear a denomination in the form
of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. of a fals of XX qirats. As a coin denomination, it denoted a silver coin
Mangır (mangyr) — A term used in the Ottoman empire for a small worth the equivalent of one qirat of gold.
denomination of copper coinage. The term derived from a Mongolian Qursh (Qirsh, Ghirsh, Kuruş) — An Ottoman and post-Ottoman denomin-
word meaning “red money”, used to describe Chinese cash coins that were ation, original for silver coins, later for base metal coins, and still used in
current in medieval Mongolia. Turkey and several Arab states. The term is derived from the German
Maydin (maydın) — A silver coin of the Ottoman empire (16th-18th century), term Groschen. It was also known as a piastre, or piaster, derived from an
ultimately derived from the regnal title of the Mamluk ruler al-Mu’ayyad Italian word meaning a “flat metal plate”, originally applied to the
Shaykh. The term is found with vastly differing spellings in contemporary Spanish-American ocho reales.
European and Ottoman documents. Riyal — From Spanish real (“royal”), used in Iran from 1204/1790 and
Miri — A term used under the Timurids and their immediate successors in elsewhere in the 20th century to the present time (usually spelled rial in
Transoxiana, probably referring to a current accounting denomination. Iran, riyal elsewhere). The Iranian rial was originally reckoned as ⅛
Mithqal — An Arabic weight, originally set at about 4.25-4.26g in the early toman, but after the coinage reforms of 1930/31 it was set at 1/10 toman
Umayyad period, but varying in later periods from less than four to more and remains so to the present day. The original Iranian rial weighed
than five grams. It was sporadically used as a denomination for some 12.67g, about 7% less than the Spanish four reales, but was later
Mamluk and Safavid gold coins. On a few rare Ilkhan coins of Abu Sa‘id, repeatedly reduced in weight.
the term nim mithqal, “half mithqal”, appears as a denomination inscribed The rial has remained the standard denomination in Iran, but has not been
on the coins. In the late 19th century it became a standard term in Xinjiang used in popular conversion, where it was called as ezar (from hazar, i.e.,
and China, typically called mace in contemporary English. “thousand”, from its pre-1930 definition as 1000 dinars, even though it has

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 8

 been only 100 dinars after 1930!) or qiran, the silver coins of 1000 dinars “beloved gold”. The current international gold market (2011) reveals that
produced until 1930. The smallest denomination in the Islamic Republic we all still love gold!
is inscribed “10 rial”, but is universally called a toman (q.v.). Zuzun — An Aramaic denomination inscribed on some very rare Arab-
Rub‘i — Perso-Arabic for “quarter”, used for various quarter denominations Armenian coins (type #E97), similar to ancient Aramaic zuz. The ancient
in Iran from the time of ‘Abbas I onwards, and found inscribed on modern Aramaic version is still mentioned in a song sung at the Jewish feast of
machine-struck coins from the time of Nasir al-Din Shah and later. Passover, referring to the purchase of a goat for two zuz.
Rupi (Rupee) — Of Sanskrit origin, the term came to refer to a silver coin of
11½ mashas of silver (in the Indian weight system), about 11.52g. After COUNTERMARKS & OVERSTRIKES
the mid-18th century, many local areas had rupees slightly heavier or A countermark (or counterstamp) is a die-struck impression
lighter than the canonical 11.52g. The term was introduced into Iran by stamped on an existing coin, normally for the purpose of
Nadir Shah in 1152/1739. In English it is conventionally spelled rupi
when referring to Iranian coins of Nadir and his successors in Iran (until revalidating old coins for further circulation. The countermark is
1212/1798), rupee when used for Afghan and Indian coins. Various normally much smaller than the host coin. It may contain the
lighter rupees were used in Afghanistan during the 19th century. name or titles of a ruler, a mint or date, a denominational name or
Semissis — Half a solidus, q.v. value, an anepigraphic symbol or image, but rarely all of these.
Sequin — From Italian zecchino, the latter derived from Arabic sikka (die). Most countermarks on silver and gold coins were associated with
An alternative term for the Ottoman sultani used by European traders. a particular ruler and are listed under the appropriate reign.
Shahi — A Safavid term for a silver coin equal to 50 dinars of account, first Countermarks on copper coins were usually not specific to a ruler,
coined in 907/1501. Originally weighing about 9.4 grams, it gradually as were the host coins in general.
sunk to about 1.15g by the late 12th/18th century, after which it was struck In the case of multiple countermarks (common in the 15th &
only as a largesse coin, known as shahi sefid, “white shahi”, in order to early 16th centuries in Iran), the coin should theoretically be
distinguish it from the copper shahi, struck from the early 19th century
onwards. The denomination was last officially used for a 10 shahi coin in attributed to the latest mark. Unfortunately, one cannot always
SH 1314/1935, but the later 50 dinar brass coin was always popularly discern which of the countermarks is most recent, even when they
called dahshahi or 10 shahi.12 overlap. Numismatists often prefer to attribute coins with
Shahrukhi — An alternate term used for the silver tanka of the Timurids and multiple countermarks to the most interesting or rarest
their successors. It is found in 16th century Ottoman financial records for countermark, even when it is clearly not the latest.
older coins still in circulation, and was apparently the official term for the
one-mithqal “tanka” under the early Mughals. The term is derived from Countermarking is relatively infrequent on Islamic coins.
the name of the Timurid ruler, Shahrukh. The principal episodes of countermarking comprise Iranian and
Solidus — The standard Byzantine gold denomination, used by modern Transoxanian silver and copper coins from the 14th to the late 16th
numismatists for various pre-reform Arabic gold coins struck in Syria, centuries, Durrani & related coins in the late 18th and early 19th
Ifriqiya and Spain. centuries, revalidated Byzantine folles of the later 12th century,
Sudaysi — “Sixth”, applied to a Yemeni silver coin initially equivalent to and some Umayyad and early ‘Abbasid copper coins. Most
one sixth of the canonical dirham (thus about 0.5g) but later reduced to countermarks of other periods are very rare. Countermarks are
0.2g or less. The coins were produced in the 9th-11th centuries, but the most commonly found on silver coins, occasionally on copper,
name is a modern term used by numismatists. virtually never on gold.
Sultani — A term for the Ottoman coin first introduced by Mehmet II in Countermarks should be distinguished from overstrikes.
882/1477 and struck until early in the reign of Mahmud II (1223-1255/
1808-1839). The weight of the sultani derived from the Mamluk ashrafi A countermark was usually much smaller than the coin and
similar to the weight standard and fineness of the Venetian ducat. Also applied to only one side of the coin (the only two-sided
known as altın or funduq, the latter being an Arabic rendering of the city countermark is type #2624). An overstrike is simply an ordinary
name of Venice. coin for which an older coin was used as a blank; it is almost
Tanka — From the Sanskrit, first used in the east in the 7th/13th century by always two-sided, with designs that fill the entire flan.
the Sultans of Delhi & Bengal. It became the common denomination for Overstrikes are common in many series, and can be very
silver coinage in Iran from late in the 14th century until the 16th, but was informative for sequencing otherwise undated issues, such as
retain as the denga in Central Asia until the 20th century, and restored as Umayyad, Ayyubid and Mamluk fulus. Overstriking was
the 21st century tenge in Kazakhstan. Some rare coins of the late Timurids
and of Muhammad Shaybani are inscribed with the word tanka. regarded as a cost savings, obviating the need to melt down old
The original Indian tanka of the Sultanates weighed about 11.02g, and was
coins in order to prepare fresh blanks.
the denominational name for both silver and gold coins, retained until the In addition to official countermarks, there were private
introduction of the silver rupee of about 10.52g circa 935/1528. The tanka merchant stamps, used principally in India from the 13th century
was introduced in Iran, probably with Timur’s monetary reform about onward, both on indigenous coins and on Islamic coins imported
792/1390 at approximately 6.2g, then gradually reduced in weight over the
next two centuries. from Iran & Central Asia. These are not catalogued in the
Checklist. They are often known as “shroff marks” from the
Tenga — See tanka.
Anglo-Indian word shroff, “moneychanger”, derived from Arabic
Thulth — Arabic for “third”, used for some rare Umayyad fractional dinars. sarraf. Some collectors view these merchant stamps as damage,
Tilla — The name of a Central Asian and Afghan gold coin weighing others as an enhancement. They are most common on silver coins
between 3.4 and 4.6 grams, from Persian tala, “gold”. of the Bengal Sultanate struck in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
Toman — From the Mongolian word tümen for “ten thousand”. Originally
a unit of account valued at ten thousand dinars, it was first struck as a gold Another form of “countermark” is the testmark, applied in
coin under Agha Muhammad Khan in Iran in 1204/1790. See “riyal” order to determine whether the coin is solid silver or gold, and not
above for the current usage of this denominational term. plated base metals. There are three basic varieties, of which the
Tremissis — One third of a solidus, q.v. most common is a nick caused by a sharp instrument, sometimes
Uqiya (Wuqiya) — Arabic for “ounce”, struck as a copper coin under the quite deeply applied. Another form is a gouge, often quite long
Zangid ruler Sinjarshah and the Mamluk ruler Hajji II, then revived as a and deep (especially on Bengali tankas). The third form is a cut at
denomination in late 20th century Mauritania. the edge of the rim. While very commonly found on Indian silver
Yek Dinar — “One dinar”, used on copper coins of the Amir of Qunduz. and occasionally gold coins, they are infrequent on Islamic coins,
Yamini — A term used for the standard silver dirhams of the Ghaznavid usually only on coins struck far to the east or exported to India.
ruler Mahmud, derived from his title, yamin al-dawla. The term is often Early Islamic coins, especially Arab-Sasanian drachms and
inscribed on the coins, usually below the obverse or reverse field. Umayyad dirhams and dinars, bear graffiti scratched into one or
Zecchino — See sequin. more of the blank areas on the coin, presumably to mark
Zer-i Mahbub — A gold denomination struck in the Ottoman empire during ownership of the coins. While Aramaic, Pahlavi and Hebrew
most of the 18th and the early part of the 19th centuries. The term means graffiti are well-known, most graffiti are either illegible or simple
lines, wedges and crosses. To most collectors, graffiti do not
detract from the value or interest of the coin.
12 In SH 1310/1935 a new dinar equal to ten old dinars was introduced, so
that the shahi was thereafter equal to 5 rather than 50 dinars.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 9

 MINTS & DATES Arab-Sasanian coins, which follow the pre-Islamic Byzantine and
Sasanian patterns of mint abbreviations. The mint name is
Islamic coins were distinguished from the very outset by the presumed to be authentic, although there are some exceptions,
presence of a clear indication of the mint where the coin was most notably the rupee of the Barakzay ruler of Afghanistan,
struck. The pre-reform early coinage generally followed the
Muhammad Ishaq, struck at Balkh but marked Kabul in pursuance
corresponding Byzantine or Sasanian practice of using a mint of his claim to be head of the Barakzay kingdom (#3182).
abbreviation, but with the introduction of the standing caliph fals Furthermore, imitative coins sometimes continue to include a mint
during the year 74 / 694-695 or shortly before, the mint was
and date, but were struck elsewhere and later than the engraved
written out in full in Arabic. This practice was retained until the year. Such imitative types are especially common on Ilkhan coins
20th century. There are nonetheless quite a few coins which lack of Uljaytu and Abu Sa‘id.
the name of the mint, especially coppers of the Umayyad,
‘Abbasid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and Golden Horde dynasties. In addition to city names, some mint names refer to a region or
province, such as Misr (= Egypt) or al-Andalus (= Spain), or a
The early post-reform Islamic gold coins always lack the mint province, such as Mazandaran or Tabaristan in Iran. There are
name, save for a few very rare Umayyad dinars of Ifriqiya and also non-local mint names, such as Urdu, Bazar, Rekab, etc.,
al-Andalus. Citing the mint name first occurred at Madinat which denote a traveling mint that would accompany either the
al-Salam in 198, but the inclusion of the mint name was not royal brigade or a section of his army on campaign. Unlike
standardized for ‘Abbasid dinars until 214, and for north-African modern mints, medieval mints required relatively little equipment.
dinars until the late 290s. There are exceptions, “mintless” gold Even is small cities, there would have been jewelers who could
and silver coins, in all periods. In particular, donatives frequently prepare the planchets and something like a stump to hold the
lacked any indication of the mint. And in a few areas, especially anvil. The remaining equipment, including two or three anvils
North Africa, the mint was often commonly omitted, such as the and everything needed to engrave the dies, could be carried by no
gold coinage of the Muwahhidun (Almohades) and their Merinid more than two horses or camels. David Greenhaugh sets up
and Hafsid successors. medieval-style mints at renaissance faires and other events in
As for silver, with the introduction of the reform dirham in 79 / Britain, parks his car far from the event, and has one donkey carry
698-699, a standard formula for the date and mint on silver all his minting equipment to the location.
dirhams was established, bism Allah duriba hadha al-dirham During the 7th-9th / 13th-15th centuries, some coins bear the date
(dinar, fals) bi-(mint X) sana (year Y)13, “in the name of God, this
in a kind of shorthand known as diwani numerals. These were
dirham (dinar, fals) was struck at mint X in the year Y”, normally essentially shorthand versions of the normal Arabic words for the
placed in the innermost margin of the obverse, and known to numbers. They occur mainly on Rum Seljuq and Ilkhan coins,
numismatists as the “mint/date formula.” As noted above, this
more rarely later. The forms of diwani numerals were not
formula was applied to gold coinage beginning in 198, and was uniform and are often quite difficult to decipher. Many have been
regularly used for gold and silver until the 6th/12th century, though misread in the numismatic literature.
as always there are quite a few exceptions. Since coppers were a
local affair and generally not subject to the same regulations as The date is generally authentic, at least to the extent that it
coinage in precious metal, there are all manner of variations for indicates the year in which the die was created. Dies often
the copper coinage. remained in use until they were no longer serviceable, often
several years after they were engraved. This tendency to utilize
After the 6th/12th century, the standard formula was largely essentially obsolete dies accounts for mismatched dates on
dropped for simpler forms, which vary extensively from region to obverse and reverse, and for the existence of numerous mulings,
region and from dynasty to dynasty, occasionally from mint to from all periods and regions, though most drastically on the coins
mint under the same ruler (e.g., Timur of the Timurids, especially of the Manghits of Bukhara, where mismatched dies can be as
on his type #2386). In Iran, Central Asia, and India, it became much as ten years apart. Mismatched obverse and reverse dates
increasingly common, after the 9th/15th century, to append an are common in most series where both sides are dated (with the
epithet to the name of the mint. A list of these epithets (Indian exception of the ‘Alawi coins of 18th-19th century Morocco, where
mints excepted) is provided in the introduction to the Qajar mismatched dates are extremely rare).
dynasty (following type #2825), as the practice became almost
universal on Qajar silver and gold. Why were obsolete dies retained in service? With rare
exceptions, this was simply a means of minimizing production
Most types listed in the Checklist exist for more than one mint costs: why discard a functioning tool? Unfortunately, this policy
or date. No effort has been undertaken here to describe the mints has created many situations where an incorrect combination of
and dates for individual types, not even to indicate which types
ruler, mint and date has encouraged historians to falsely interpret
exist with a multiplicity of mints and dates. Several types, royal or political chronology. Contrary to popular belief, pre-
perhaps a few dozen, were struck at fifty mints or more, and quite modern numismatic information is never 100% believable! As
a few may have as many as 300 or more different mint/date
everywhere else, “typos happen”. Engravers can sometimes enter
combinations. In addition, there can be up to a dozen or more an incorrect date, occasionally in words, more often in numerals.
decorative and arrangement varieties for a single mint/date For a date in words, an elegantly engraved die for the mint of
combination, particular in later times. A full listing of all known
Bardasir in 384 is clearly dated 484, i.e., with arba‘-mi’a (400)
mints and dates for every type, including major varieties and instead of thalath-mi’a (300) (type #1570.1, Treadwell-Br484).
subtypes, would constitute a veritable encyclopedia of Islamic Quite frequently, the Arabic number “2” is confused with “6”,
coins, a task that would take a team of devoted scholars decades
which could be a retrograde “2”amd vice versa.
to complete. My estimate is that such a compendium would
probably include more than 250,000 entries, representing the From time to time in Islamic coinage, coins were dated as a
totality of extant Islamic coinage from the beginning of Islam to “series”, i.e., all coins of a particular type or set of types bore the
the present day. And hundreds of new varieties are discovered same date, irrespective of the year in which they were actually
each year! struck.14 The best-known example of this is the metropolitan and
Egyptian Ottoman coinage, especially after 886/1481, which most
On nearly all Islamic coins struck before about 700/1300, the frequently bears only the year of the sultan’s accession,
date is written out in Arabic words in full. Thereafter, the date is supplemented, after 1171/1757, by the regnal year of the sultan.
increasingly written in ciphers, almost exclusively so after about Series dates are also found on some of the Arab-Sasanian coinage,
850/1450. Mint names are never abbreviated, but are written out probably on some ‘Abbasid copper coins, and on nearly all late
in full, except on some Arab-Byzantine and almost all 20th century North African circulation coinage.

13 The word fi, "in", sometimes precedes sana, sometimes expanded in later 14 This phenomenon is not as strange as it might appear at first glance.
times to fi shuhur sana, "in the months of the year", meaning "during the Current banknotes of the United States are dated in precisely this fashion, as
course of the year". are modern coins of several Middle Eastern and other countries.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 10

 A few coins bear the month and even the day in addition to the humiliate whom You will. In Your hand is the good. Verily,
year. One curious coin of the Ja’uni Qurbani of Tus (#R2347) is You are able to do all things.”
inscribed with the phrase, “this die was engraved on the tenth of Verse 3:85, wa man yabtaghi ghayr al-islam dina falan yaqbala
Jumada al-Ula in the year seven hundred and seventy-eight.” minhu wa huwa fi’l-akhirati min al-khasirin, “and whoever
Coins with month or day are more highly prized than similar coins seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of
with just a year and usually command a premium, if only as him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.”
curiosities.
Verse 3:173, hasbuni Allah wa ni'ma al-wakil, “Allah is sufficient
The months of the Muslim year are as follows: for us, and is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us)”.
1 Muharram 30 days Verse 6:160, man ja’ bi’l-hasana falahu ‘ashr amthaliha…,
2 Safar 29 days “whoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like
3 Rabi‘ al-Awwal (I) 30 days thereof to his credit…”
4 Rabi‘ al-Akhir (II) 29 days
5 Jumada al-Ula (I) 30 days Verse 9:33, (muhammad rasul Allah) arsalahu bi’huda wa din
6 Jumada al-Akhira (II) 29 days al-haqq liyathhirahu ‘ala al-din kullihi wa law karaha’l-
7 Rajab 30 days mushrikun, with arsalahu instead of arsala rasulahu),
8 Sha‘ban 29 days “Muhammad is the messenger of God, He send him with
9 Ramadan 30 days guidance and the religion of truth, to make it superior over all
10 Shawwal 29 days religions, even though the polytheists hate [it]”.
11 Dhu’l-Qa‘da 30 days Verse 9:34, wa’l-lathina yaknizun al-dhahab wa’l-fidda wa la
12 Dhu’l-Hijja 29 or 30 days yunfiqunaha fi sabil Allah, [fabashirahum bi-‘athabin alim],
The Muslim calendar is based on a true lunar year, which is “And those who hoard up gold and silver, and spend it not in
approximately eleven days shorter than the solar year. Thus, the Way of God, [announce unto them a painful torment]”.
viewed in terms of the solar Christian calendar, each Muslim year Although the last few words do not appear on the coins, surely
commences about eleven days earlier than its predecessor. In all Muslims must have understood it.
other words, 34 Muslim years are approximately equal to 33 Verse 17:81, ja’ al-haqq wa zahaqa al-batil inn al-batil kana
Christian years. For this reason conversion from one calendar to zuhuqan, “Truth has come and falseness has vanished, for
the other is slightly complicated. Exact conversion requires the surely, falseness is ever bound to vanish”.
use of a conversion chart or its now readily available software Verse 30:3-4, lillah al-amr min qabl wa min ba‘d wa yawma’ith
equivalent. However, there exists a simple formula that will yield yafrah al-mu’minun bi-nasr Allah, “The decision is with Allah,
an approximate equivalent. before and after, and on that day, the believers will rejoice, with
To convert from a Muslim year to a Christian year, first the help of Allah”.
multiply the Muslim year by 0.97, then add 622. For example, Surat 112 (complete), Allah ahad Allah samad lam yalid wa lam
AH1000 can be converted by applying that multiplicand, yielding yulad wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad, “He is Allah, the One
970 + 622 = 1592. In fact, the year AH1000 begins on 19 and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is
October 1591. Conversely, to convert a Christian year, first He begotten; And there is none Like unto Him”.
subtract 622, then multiply by 1.03.
In the past, exact date conversions were accomplished by RULERS, THEIR NAMES AND TITLES
reference to various charts, many of which were published as Muslim rulers used a variety of names and titles to identify
detailed tables which made the process relatively painless, though themselves on their coinage. These were as follows:
still requiring more than a modicum of arithmetic skill. Several Ism – The ism, or personal name, was normally given at birth
readers have recommended that I include a simplified chart in the and remained unchanged throughout the lifetime of the individual.
Checklist. However, in the internet age, date conversions are Arabs normally bore only one ism, but non-Arabs (Turks,
quickly and accurately facilitated by any number of free internet Iranians, Berbers, etc.) often bore both an Arab ism and an ism in
locations, my favorite: www.islamicfinder.org/Hcal/index.php. their own language.
There are many other sites, easily found on the internet.
Kunya – The kunya was a name compounded as abu X (“the
The right of sikka (see the section, The Right of Sikka) father of X”) or, for women, umm X (“the mother of X”). It was
strongly recommended that the date, as well as the mint, appear used by Arabs and non-Arabs alike and is frequently seen on the
on the coin. However, due to careless striking or to the tendency coins, sometimes in lieu of the ism. There are a few names of the
after circa AH300 to use dies larger than the average planchet, the form abu X that are not a true kunya but actually an ism. The only
date is not always visible on a particular specimen. Sometimes common ism of this form is Abu Bakr.15
the date is nearly always legible, but at other times, it is only a
rare specimen that shows the full date. Naturally, in the latter Nasab – The nasab was a name that gave an indication of
case, where the date is rarely visible, fully dated specimens may lineage, and was thus normally in the form ibn X (“son of X”) or,
command a significant premium. This aspect varies greatly from for women, bint X (“daughter of X”). The Turkish and Persian
series to series, and has generally not been noted in this Checklist. equivalents were X-oglu and X-zadeh, respectively, but only the
Arabic equivalent was commonly used in coin inscriptions.
QUR’ANIC INSCRIPTIONS Normally the nasab refers to the immediate father of the individ-
There are several hundred Qur’anic inscriptions found on ual, but occasionally it refers to a more distant ancestor. In a few
Islamic coins. Many of these are listed and translated in cases, coinage inscriptions give the nasab for more than one
Codrington’s 1904 work (see the bibliography). Here are noted generations; such coins are sometimes known as “pedigree”
and translated only those that appear frequently on many different coins.
kinds of Islamic coins. They are listed by Verse, numbered as Nisba – The nisba is a relational name, normally ending in -i
X:Y, where X is the Surat (“chapter”) and Y the paragraph. (fem. -iya). There are four types of nisba, referring to a tribe or
In most cases, the inscribed text is only part of the Verse. clan, a place, a profession, or an individual (or his title). In most
Verse 3:26, qull Allahuma malik al-mulk tu’ti’l-mulk man tasa’ cases, a person can only bear one nisba of each type, though
wa tanzi‘u’l-mulk miman tasa’ wa tu‘izzu man tasa’ wa tudhillu persons who move from one place to another can acquire multiple
man tasa’ biyadika al-khayr innaka ‘ala kull shayy qadir, “Say: nisbas of place. A nisba relating to an individual usually implies
O Allah, possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to
whom You will and You take the kingdom from whom You 15 Abu is in the nominative case. In patronymic constructions (after ibn),
will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You it takes the genitive form abi. Thus the fourth Orthodox caliph, son of Abu
Talib, is known as ‘Ali b. Abi Talib.

Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd edition, PAGE 11

Other documents randomly have
different content
dannata [144], e Demonio dice Maghinardo Pagani [145]. Come Dante
di Minosse, Wolfram von Eschenbach fa un diavolo di
Radamanto [146].

III.

Dante dà un corpo ai demonii, seguendo in ciò la opinione di molti

Padri e Dottori della Chiesa e la vulgata credenza [147]; ma di che
natura è desso? Sia che il poeta non avesse in proposito concetti ben
definiti, sia che la materia del suo poema e certe convenienze di
trattazione non gli permettessero di sempre osservarli, fatto sta che
in quanto egli dice o accenna a tale riguardo si nota incertezza e
contraddizione. Le opinioni stesse dei Padri non sono troppo
concordi. Fra quella di Gregorio Magno, che voleva i diavoli al tutto
incorporei [148], e quella di Taziano, che volentieri esagerava la
materialità loro [149], alcuna ve n'è più temperata; ma si ammetteva
quasi generalmente che i demonii avessero un corpo formato d'aria
o di fuoco; anzi un corpo si attribuiva anche agli angeli, e si diceva
che, dopo la caduta, quello dei demonii era divenuto più grossolano
e più spesso. Dante ha gli angeli in conto di forme pure, di sustanze
separate da materia [150], e nulla dice del modo onde i demonii
acquistarono un corpo; ma forse ci può dar qualche lume in
proposito, quanto egli dice del modo che tengon le anime uscite di
questa vita nel formarsene uno d'aria condensata [151]. E badisi che
qui si discorre del corpo che i demonii hanno in proprio, e non di
quello onde possono rivestirsi accidentalmente, per loro particolari
propositi.
Ho accennato a incertezze e contraddizioni di Dante in sì fatto
argomento. Il corpo di cui è provveduto il demonio Flegias è certo un
corpo sottilissimo, non più pesante dell'aria entro a cui si muove, e in
tutto simile all'ombra di Virgilio, giacchè la barca con cui egli fa
passare ai due poeti la palude degli iracondi sembra carca solo
quando Dante vi entra [152]. Il corpo di Lucifero per contro
dev'essere assai più denso e grave, non solo per quel suo essersi
sprofondato sino al punto

Al qual si traggon d'ogni parte i pesi;

e perchè la ghiaccia lo stringe tutto intorno e ritiene, come solo può

fare solido con solido; ma ancora perchè i due poeti, e specialmente
Dante, che è d'ossa e di polpe, possono scendere e arrampicarsi
sopra di esso non altrimenti che se fosse una rupe [153]. Può darsi
che Dante abbia con pensato proposito dato un corpo più grossolano
e più denso al più malvagio degli angeli ribelli, a colui che è

Da tutti i pesi del mondo costretto [154];

ma vuolsi notare che qualche incertezza egli lascia scorgere anche

riguardo ai nuovi corpi rivestiti dalle anime dannate o purganti.
Nell'Antipurgatorio il poeta vuole abbracciare Casella e non può:

O ombre vane, fuor che nell'aspetto!

Tre volte dietro a lei le mani avvinsi,
E tante mi tornai con esse al petto [155];

e pure trova poco più oltre le anime dei superbi che si accasciano
sotto i ponderosi massi [156]. Nel terzo cerchio dell'Inferno i poeti
passano su per l'ombre che adona la greve pioggia, e pongono le
piante

Sopra lor vanità che par persona [157];

ma nel nono Dante forte percote il piè nel viso ad una delle anime
triste dell'Antenora [158]. Virgilio non isparge ombra in terra [159]; ma
è in grado di sollevare e portar Dante [160].
Quanto alla forma e all'aspetto de' suoi demonii Dante non dice gran
che, fatta eccezion per Lucifero. Caronte è da lui dipinto [161] quale
già il dipinse Virgilio. Minosse ha più del bestiale e del diabolico: sta
orribilmente, ringhia, agita una lunga coda, con cui può cingersi ben
nove volte il corpo, quanti sono i cerchi dell'Inferno [162]. Plutone,
che Virgilio chiama maladetto lupo, mostra altrui un volto gonfio d'ira
(enfiata labbia), una sembianza di fiera crudele, ha la voce
chioccia [163]. Gerione, mutato l'aspetto che già ebbe nel mito, ha
faccia d'uom giusto, il resto di serpe, due branche pelose, coda
aguzza, il dorso, il petto, le coste simbolicamente dipinti di nodi e di
rotelle [164]. Cerbero [165], le Furie [166], il Minotauro [167], i
Centauri [168], le Arpie [169], serbano invariate le forme tradizionali; e
così dicasi dei Giganti, dei quali non si descrive se non la smisurata
statura [170].
Ma non mancano nell'Inferno dantesco diavoli in cui più
propriamente si scorge l'aspetto che ai nemici dell'uman genere
attribuì la turbata fantasia dei credenti, specie nel medio evo. Questi
diavoli sono neri (angeli neri [171], neri cherubini) [172], quali già
s'immaginavano nel IV secolo [173], e con forma umana, la forma che
in quel medesimo tempo si attribuì loro [174]. I demonii che sferzano
i mezzani nella prima bolgia dell'ottavo cerchio, sono cornuti [175];
Ciriatto è sannuto [176]; Cagnazzo mostra, non un volto, ma un
muso [177]; ed essi e i compagni loro sono armati di artigli [178]. Il
demonio che butta giù nella pegola spessa dei barattieri uno degli
anziani di Santa Zita è dipinto quale infinite opere d'arte del medio
evo appunto cel mostrano:

Ahi, quanto egli era nell'aspetto fiero!

E quanto mi parea nell'atto acerbo,
Con l'ale aperte e sovra i piè leggiero!
L'omero suo, ch'era acuto e superbo,
Carcava un peccator con ambo l'anche,
E quei tenea de' piè ghermito il nerbo [179].

Se non che bisogna dire che Dante, trattenuto forse da un delicato

sentimento d'arte, non diede a nessuno dei demonii suoi, nemmeno
a Lucifero, la deformità abbominevole che spesso hanno i demonii
descritti nelle leggende, o ritratti da pittori e scultori nel medio
evo [180].
Lucifero, il principe dei demonii,

La creatura ch'ebbe il bel sembiante [181],

è da Dante rappresentato di smisurata grandezza, brutto quanto già

fu bello, e forse più, con tre facce alla sua testa, l'una vermiglia, tra
bianca e gialla l'altra, nera la terza, sei enormi ali di pipistrello, corpo
peloso [182]. Quelle tre facce diedero assai da pensare ai
commentatori, parecchi dei quali attribuirono loro significati, cui non
sarebbero certo andati a rintracciare, se invece di stimarle una
immaginazione propria di Dante, avessero saputo che assai prima di
Dante si trovano. I commentatori più antichi, i quali dovevano
saperlo, ne diedero, in generale, interpretazione assai più giusta che
non i moderni, e non si smarrirono dietro a sogni, come il Lombardi,
che nelle tre facce vide simboleggiate le tre parti del mondo onde
Satana ha tributo di anime, e come il Rossetti che vi riconobbe
Roma, Firenze, la Francia.
Questo Lucifero con tre facce non balza fuori per la prima volta
dall'accesa fantasia di Dante; già innanzi la coscienza religiosa
l'aveva immaginato e scorto, già le arti l'avevano raffigurato. Esso è
come l'antitesi della Trinità, o come il suo rovescio. La Trinità fu
qualche volta nel medio evo rappresentata sotto specie di un uomo
con tre volti; e poichè il concetto della Trinità divina suggerisce il
concetto di una Trinità diabolica, e poichè inoltre nello spirito del
male si supponeva essere tre facoltà o attributi opposti e
contraddicenti a quelli che si spartiscono fra le tre persone divine,
così era naturale che si ricorresse per rappresentare il principe de'
demonii a una figurazione atta a far riscontro a quella con che si
rappresentava il Dio uno e trino. Lucifero appare con tre facce in
iscolture, in pitture su vetro, in miniature di manoscritti, quando
cinto il capo di corona, quando sormontato di corna, tenente fra le
mani talvolta uno scettro, talvolta una spada, o anche due [183].
Quanto tal figurazione sia antica è difficile dire. Un manoscritto
anglo-sassone del Museo Britannico, appartenente alla prima metà
del secolo XI, reca una immagine di Satana, nella quale si vede,
dietro l'orecchio sinistro (la figura è di profilo), spuntare di traverso
una seconda faccia [184]. Più tardi il corpo dei demonii ebbe spesso a
coprirsi di facce, significative di malvagi istinti. Senza dubbio Dante
volle con le tre che dà al suo Lucifero, conformemente a una usanza
già antica, rappresentare gli attributi diabolici opposti ai divini; e
poichè, per lo stesso Dante, come per S. Tommaso, il Padre è
potestà, il Figliuolo è sapienza, lo Spirito Santo è amore [185], le tre
facce non possono simboleggiare se non impotenza, ignoranza, odio,
come rettamente giudicarono alcuni dei commentatori più antichi.
Non solo Dante non immaginò, egli primo, il Lucifero con tre facce;
ma nemmen primo immaginò di porre in ciascuna delle tre bocche
immani un peccatore non degno di minor pena. Nella chiesa di
Sant'Angelo in Formis, presso Capua, una grande pittura, stimata
opera del secolo XI, rappresenta Lucifero in atto di maciullar
Giuda [186]. Nella chiesa di S. Basilio, in Étampes, una scultura del
XII rappresenta appunto Lucifero che maciulla tre peccatori, e
rappresentazioni sì fatte erano, sembra, frequenti in Francia [187]. Il
Boccaccio ricorda il Lucifero da San Gallo [188], e il Sansovino dice
che nella chiesa di San Gallo, in Firenze, era dipinto un diavolo con
più bocche [189].
Dante parla del terror che lo colse alla vista di Lucifero:

Com'io divenni allor gelato e fioco,

Nol dimandar, lettor, ch'io non lo scrivo,
Però ch'ogni parlar sarebbe poco.
Io non morii e non rimasi vivo.
Pensa oramai per te, s'hai fior d'ingegno,
Qual io divenni d'uno e d'altro privo [190].

Non è forse da tacere, a tale proposito, che la vista del diavolo si

credeva potesse essere perniciosa e letale. Cesario di Heisterbach
narra di due giovani che languirono gran tempo per aver veduto il
diavolo in forma di donna [191]; Tommaso Cantipratense dice che la
vista del diavolo fa ammutolire [192].
Dante non dice nulla delle forme varie che i demonii possono
assumere a lor piacimento. Egli fa ricordo di cagne bramose e
correnti che lacerano i violenti contro a se stessi [193]; di serpenti che
tormentano i ladri [194]; di un drago, che stando sulle spalle di Caco,
affoca qualunque s'intoppa [195]; ma non dice che sieno demonii, e
noi non possiamo indovinare con sicurezza il pensier suo a tale
riguardo. Animali diabolici s'incontrano nelle Visioni: in quella di
Alberico si fa espressa menzione di due demonii che hanno forma,
l'uno di cane, l'altro di leone [196]; ma, da altra banda è da ricordare
che serpenti e scorpioni smisurati e lupi e leoni sono nell'Inferno di
Maometto, e che molte fiere selvagge e voraci sono nell'Inferno
indiano [197].

IV.

Circa la natura morale dei demonii Dante non ha, e non poteva avere
cose nuove da dire: conosciuti erano gli atti e portamenti loro; la
loro riputazione era fatta.
Lucifero fu creato più nobile d'ogni altra creatura [198]; ma il peccato,
il superbo strupo [199], cancellò in lui, come ne' seguaci suoi, ogni
natia nobiltà. La superbia fu il suo primo peccato [200]; fu il secondo
l'invidia, e questa trasse a perdizione i primi parenti, e con essi tutto
il genere umano [201]. Egli è il nemico antico ed implacabile
dell'umana prosperità [202], l'antico avversaro [203] di tutti gli uomini,
ma più di quelli che non vanno per le sue vie, e cui egli tenta trarre a
peccato e a ruina; il vermo reo che il mondo fora [204]. Perciò egli
con amo invescato attira le anime [205], e tenta insidiarle persino in
Purgatorio, donde lo cacciano gli angeli [206]. Egli, il perverso [207]
κατ’ ἐξοχήν, è bugiardo e padre di menzogna [208]. Il mal voler, che
pur mal chiede [209], è fatto natura sua e degli angeli suoi: Dante,
con tutti i teologi del suo tempo, rifiuta e condanna la opinion di
Origene e di alcuni seguaci di lui, che i demonii possano ravvedersi e
trovar grazia. L'ira e la rabbia sono passioni principali dei
maledetti [210]. Caronte parla iracondo, si cruccia, batte col remo
qualunque anima si adagia [211]; Minosse si morde per gran rabbia la
coda [212]; Plutone consuma dentro sè con la sua rabbia [213];
Flegias, conosciuto il proprio inganno, se ne rammarca nell'ira
accolta [214]; i demonii che stanno a custodia della città di Dite
parlan tra loro stizzosamente [215], il Minotauro morde se stesso,

Sì come quei cui l'ira dentro fiacca [216];

e non parliam delle Furie e d'altri demonii che con atti o con parole
fan manifesta la rabbia che li divora. Quelli della quinta bolgia
dell'ottavo cerchio digrignano i denti e con le ciglia minaccian
duoli [217]. Opportuna perciò la comparazione che più di una volta
Dante fa de' suoi demonii con mastini sciolti, con cani furibondi e
crudeli [218]. Se Rubicante è pazzo, come Malacoda lo chiama [219], la
sua è certo pazzia furiosa.
I demonii sono gelosi del loro regno, e malvolentieri vedono altri
penetrarvi e aggirarvisi, se non è condotto da loro e in lor servitù.
Come già si opposero alla discesa di Cristo [220], così si oppongono al
viaggio di Dante. Caronte, Minosse, Cerbero, Plutone, i demonii della
città di Dite, le Furie, forse anche Nembrot, cercano in varii modi e
con varii argomenti di farlo retrocedere [221]. Allo stesso modo, nella
leggenda del Pozzo di S. Patrizio, i demonii tentano ripetutamente di
far tornare addietro il cavaliere Owen. La tracotanza e l'insolenza
sono proprie qualità dei superbi caduti, a umiliare le quali è talvolta
necessario l'intervento divino [222]. E anche quando sanno non
essere senza l'espresso volere di Dio l'andata dei due poeti, i
demonii più protervi si studiano di nuocer loro, minaccian Dante coi
raffii [223], ingannano Virgilio con false informazioni [224], inseguono
l'uno e l'altro per prenderli, dopo averli lasciati andare [225]. Nella
Visione di Carlo il Grosso appaiono nigerrimi demones advolantes
cum uncis igneis, i quali tentano di uncinare Carlo, e ne sono
impediti dall'angelo che lo guida [226]; nella Visione di un uomo di
Nortumbria, narrata da Beda, demonii minacciano di afferrare con
ignee tenaglie l'intruso [227]; anche Alberico è minacciato da un
diavolo e difeso da S. Pietro [228]. Giunto in prossimità dell'Inferno, il
Mandeville si vide contrastare il passo da un nugolo d'avversarii, ed
ebbe da uno di loro una mala percossa, di cui portò il segno per ben
diciott'anni. Che con un naturale sì fatto i diavoli non possano amarsi
tra loro s'intende facilmente. Come Alichino e Calcabrina fanno, là,
nella bolgia dei barattieri [229], così debbono gli altri azzuffarsi
quando l'occasione se ne porga. Vero è che Barbariccia, co' suoi,
tiran poi fuori del bollente stagno, in cui eran caduti, i due
combattenti.
Quest'opera di fraterno soccorso ci lascia pensare che anche nei
diavoli possa talvolta essere alcun che di men tristo. Minosse, il
conoscitor delle peccata, ha da avere, se non altro, un sicuro
sentimento di giustizia, senza di che non potrebbe assegnare a
ciascun peccatore la pena che gli si conviene. Chirone dà una scorta
fida ai poeti [230]; Gerione concede loro il suo dorso [231]; Anteo li
posa sull'ultimo fondo d'inferno [232].
È opinione comune dei teologi che l'intelletto dei demonii siasi
ottenebrato dopo la caduta, di maniera che, se vince ancora, e di
molto, l'umano, è di gran lunga inferiore all'angelico. Essi non
conoscono il futuro se non in quanto Dio lo fa loro palese, o in
quanto possono argomentarlo da indizii e da fenomeni naturali;
similmente non penetrano l'animo umano, ma da segni esteriori
argomentano ciò che in esso si muove [233]. Dante non pare abbia
pensato altrimenti, sebbene, sul conto del saper loro, mostri di
essere incorso in qualche contraddizione. A suo giudizio i demonii
non possono filosofare, perocchè amore è in loro del tutto spento, e
a filosofare..... è necessario amore [234]; ciò nondimeno, il demonio
che se ne porta l'anima di Guido da Montefeltro può vantarsi d'esser
loico, e de' buoni [235]. Caronte conosce essere Dante un'anima
buona [236]: da che? non sappiamo. Flegias, per contro, crede vedere
in Virgilio un'anima rea [237]. Del resto nè Caronte, nè Minosse, nè
Plutone, nè i demonii della città di Dite, sanno la ragione del viaggio
di Dante e il divino patrocinio sotto cui esso si compie, e Virgilio a
più riprese deve far ciò manifesto. Ora tale ignoranza può parere un
po' strana, se si pensa che Dante stesso afferma non avere i demonii
bisogno della parola per conoscere l'uno i pensamenti dell'altro [238].
Dato dunque, che non potessero penetrare nella mente di Virgilio e
di Dante, essi avrebbero dovuto aver cognizione del fatto come
prima uno dei loro l'avesse avuta. Ma i demonii, che Dante trova in
Inferno, usano della parola anche quando conversan tra loro [239].
Della potenza diabolica Dante non dice gran che; ma si conforma in
tutto alla comune opinione quando attribuisce ai demonii potestà
sugli elementi, e narra della procella da essi suscitata, che travolse
con le sue acque il corpo di Buonconte da Montefeltro [240].
Il demonio può invadere il corpo umano e produrre in esso
turbazioni simili a quelle che arrecano certi morbi [241]; può inoltre
animare i corpi morti e dar loro tutte le apparenze e gli atti della
vita. I traditori della Tolomea hanno, secondo dice frate Alberigo a
Dante, questa sorte, che l'anima loro piomba in Inferno e pena,
mentre il corpo, governato da un demonio, si rimane, in apparenza
ancor vivo, nel mondo:

Cotal vantaggio ha questa Tolomea,

Che spesse volte l'anima ci cade
Innanzi ch'Atropós mossa le dea.
E perchè tu più volentier mi rade
Le invetriate lagrime dal volto,
Sappi che tosto che l'anima trade,
Come fec'io, il corpo suo l'è tolto
Da un dimonio, che poscia il governa
Mentre che il tempo suo tutto sia vôlto [242].

Nella medesima condizione si trovano Branca d'Oria, che

 In anima in Cocito già si bagna,
Ed in corpo par vivo ancor di sopra,

ed un suo prossimano [243].

Ora questa ingegnosa invenzione non è, come sembra allo
Scartazzini [244], una invenzione di Dante, suggerita da quanto
nell'Evangelo di Giovanni (XIII, 27) si dice di Giuda: Et post bucellam
introivit in eum Satanas; perchè con tali parole l'Evangelista non
vuole dir altro se non che da indi in poi Giuda fu in potestà di
Satana, e come invasato del maligno spirito. In fatti Giuda non
muore allora, ma, dopo consumato il tradimento, da se stesso si
uccide. La invenzione, o, meglio, la immaginazione, Dante la trovò
già bella e formata, e le citate parole dell'Evangelista poterono tutto
il più suggerirgli l'idea di applicarla a pessimi peccatori, traditori
come Giuda. Cesario di Heisterbach racconta la storia di un chierico
cuius corpus diabolus loco animae vegetabat. Questo chierico
cantava con voce soavissima e incomparabile; ma un bel giorno un
sant'uomo uditolo, disse: Questa non è voce d'uomo, anzi è di
demonio; e fatti suoi esorcismi costrinse il diavolo a venir fuori, e il
cadavere cadde a terra [245]. Tommaso Cantipratense racconta come
un diavolo entrò nel corpo di un morto, che era deposto in una
chiesa, e tentò di spaventare una santa vergine che pregava; ma la
santa vergine, datogli un buon picchio sul capo, lo fece chetare [246].
Di un diavolo, che, per tentare un recluso, assunse il corpo di una
donna morta, narra Giacomo da Voragine [247]. Ma la immaginazione
è assai più antica. Di un diavolo, che, entrato nel corpo di un
dannato, traghettava a un fiume i viandanti, con isperanza di poter
loro nuocere, si legge nella Vita di San Gilduino [248]; di un altro, che
teneva vivo il corpo di un malvagio uomo, si legge nella Vita di
Sant'Odrano [249]. Se e come in quei corpi dei traditori animati dai
demonii si compiessero le funzioni vitali, Dante non dice: la opinione
che non si compiessero se non in apparenza doveva essere la più
diffusa. Nei racconti testè citati di Cesario e di Giacomo, i cadaveri,
appena abbandonati dagli spiriti maligni, presentano tutti i caratteri
di una inoltrata putrefazione, e ciò conformemente ad altre opinioni
e credenze, delle quali non mi dilungo a discorrere.

V.

I demonii avevano due sedi, l'Inferno, per punizione loro e dei

dannati, e l'aria, per esercitazione degli uomini, sino al dì del
Giudizio [250]. Della sede aerea Dante non dice nulla di proposito; ma
la suppone evidentemente quando accenna a tentazioni diaboliche,
quando parla della potestà che hanno i demonii di suscitar procelle,
o di demonii che contendono agli angeli le anime dei morti.
In Purgatorio Dante non pone demonii: l'antico avversario tenta di
penetrarvi in forma di biscia,

Forse qual diede ad Eva il cibo amaro;

ma gli angeli, gli astor celestïali, lo volgono in fuga [251]. I teologi

sono comunemente d'accordo nel ritenere che in Purgatorio non ci
siano demonii a tormentare le anime; ma moltissime Visioni
rappresentano il Purgatorio pieno anch'esso di diavoli, intesi a farvi il
consueto officio di tormentatori. La Chiesa, che solo nel 1439, nel
concilio di Firenze, fermò il dogma del Purgatorio, la cui dottrina era
stata innanzi svolta da S. Gregorio e da S. Tommaso, non si
pronunziò sopra questo punto particolare [252]. Dante, che, quanto
alla situazione e alla struttura del Purgatorio ha immaginazioni e
concetti proprii, quanto alla relazion di esso coi demonii tiene la
opinion dei teologi, rifiutando quella dei mistici.
Della situazione dell'Inferno, erano state, ed erano tuttavia, molte
svariate opinioni [253]; la più accreditata e diffusa lo poneva nel
centro della terra, e questa è appunto l'opinione seguita da Dante.
Nell'Inferno dantesco i demonii sono variamente distribuiti, conforme
al concetto che il poeta s'era formato della gravità delle colpe e della
conseguente gravità dei castighi. Che demonii non debbano essere
nel limbo, dove sono gli spiriti magni, solo esclusi dal cielo perchè
non ebber battesmo, e i fanciulli morti prima di averlo, s'intende
facilmente; e mezzi demonii si possono dire quelli che nel vestibolo
scontano lor pena insieme con gli sciaurati che mai non fur vivi. Il
primo vero demonio che Dante incontri è Caronte, ed è strano
abbastanza che egli non ne abbia posto alcuno a guardia della porta
su cui sono le parole di colore oscuro, e che, forzata da Cristo,
trovasi ancora, a dir di Virgilio, senza serrame [254]. Nel secondo
cerchio è Minosse, solo nominato; ma debbono pure esservi altri
demonii esecutori delle sentenze di lui, quelli per le cui mani le
anime giudicate son giù vôlte [255].1 diavoli appajono per la prima
volta numerosi (più di mille) sulle porte della città di Dite [256].
Possono i diavoli che sono in Inferno, e cui è commesso di
tormentare le anime, uscir di là entro? Dante nol dice, ma per alcuni
espressamente lo nega. Lucifero è confitto nel ghiaccio, nè si può
muovere, suggerita senza dubbio la immaginazione da quel luogo
dell'Apocalissi, detta di S. Giovanni, ove si narra che l'arcangelo
Michele prese il dragone e lo legò per mille anni [257]. Lucifero legato
nell'ultimo fondo dell'Inferno appare anche in alcune Visioni [258].
Efialte è legato [259], mentre Anteo è sciolto [260]. I diavoli della
quinta bolgia del cerchio ottavo, non possono uscire di là,

Chè l'alta provvidenza che lor volle

Porre ministri della fossa quinta,
Poder di partirsi indi a tutti tolle [261].

Ed è assai probabile che Dante abbia inteso il medesimo dei diavoli

che nell'altre bolge e negli altri cerchi hanno ufficio di punitori.
S. Tommaso, al pari di molti altri teologi, e conformemente a quanto
è accennato nel Nuovo Testamento, ammette che fra i demonii come
fra gli angeli rimasti fedeli, ci sieno varii ordini e una gerarchia, a
capo della quale è Beelzebub [262]. Dante non esprime a tale
riguardo una opinione categorica; ma presenta Lucifero quale re
dell'Inferno e principe dei demonii [263], cui forse Plutone invoca nel
suo inintelligibile linguaggio [264]. Quanto agli altri demonii si può
notare qua e là qualche indizio di primazia e di soggezione. Abbiamo
già veduto che Minosse deve avere altri demonii sotto di sè,
esecutori delle sue sentenze. Chirone sembra essere il duce dei
Centauri [265]: Malacoda sembra avere alcuna signoria sui diavoli che
tormentano i barattieri [266]. Forse Dante ebbe anche a ricordarsi
dell'antica opinione di Erma, di Clemente Alessandrino, di Origene e
di altri, che ordinavano i demonii secondo le varie specie di peccati a
promuovere i quali più specialmente attendevano: questo dubbio
nasce quando si vede l'iracondo Flegias fatto navicellajo della palude
degli iracondi [267]; il ladro Caco perseguitare i ladri [268]; Lucifero, il
primo traditore, dirompere coi denti i tre grandi traditori [269].
Dante considera l'Inferno quale un regno opposto e contrario al
regno de' cieli, e come Dio è l'imperador che lassù regna, l'alto sire
del regno della beatitudine, così Lucifero è

Lo imperador del doloroso regno [270],

e le Furie sono

le meschine
Della regina dell'eterno pianto [271].

Questo concetto di un regno satanico si trova già negli Evangeli [272]

e in Padri della Chiesa, onde si trasse argomento, nelle
rappresentazioni dell'arte, a dare a Lucifero, quali insegne della sua
potestà, scettro e corona. Con tali insegne, o seduto sopra un trono,
comparve anche Satana fuori dell'Inferno, in molte leggende [273].
Giacomino da Verona chiama anch'egli Lucifero re dell'Inferno [274];
ma, come Dante, gli nega ogni segno e fregio di signoria.

VI.
Vediamo ora i demonii di Dante in relazione coi dannati, nell'ufficio
loro di giustizieri e tormentatori infernali.
Quando muore Guido da Montefeltro, resosi, dopo una vita tutta
piena di colpe, cordigliero, S. Francesco viene per raccorne l'anima;
ma un de' neri Cherubini gli dice:

Nol portar; non mi far torto.

Venir se ne dee giù tra' miei meschini,
Perchè diede il consiglio frodolente,
Dal quale in qua stato gli sono a' crini;
Ch'assolver non si può chi non si pente,
Nè péntere e volere insieme puossi
Per la contradizion che nol consente [275].

Quando invece muore Buonconte, sinceramente pentito, e col nome

di Maria sulle labbra, viene l'angel di Dio e ne prende l'anima; ma
quel d'Inferno grida:

O tu dal ciel, perchè mi privi?

Tu te ne porti di costui l'eterno
Per una lagrimetta che il mi toglie:
Ma io farò dell'altro altro governo [276].

Qui abbiamo, se non isvolti, indicati due contrasti, del demonio e

d'un santo l'uno, del demonio e dell'angelo l'altro: nel primo vince il
demonio; nel secondo l'angelo.
È noto che contrasti sì fatti furono popolarissimi nel medio evo, e
varie letterature di quella età ne serbano numerosi documenti [277].
Il concetto che li inspira scaturisce del resto dall'intimo della
credenza cristiana e non è d'indole popolare soltanto. La lotta fra il
divino e il diabolico è in essa iniziale, immanente. Prima Lucifero si
ribella al suo fattore, poi perverte i primi parenti e tutta l'umana
generazione; Cristo vince Lucifero e spoglia l'inferno; Maria calpesta
l'antico serpente; l'Anticristo, campione di Satana, rinnoverà la
pugna. Se oggetto dell'interminabile contesa è l'umanità, gli è giusto
che per ogni singola anima le contrarie potestà combattano. La
credenza che ciascun uomo sia, lungo il corso di tutta la vita,
accompagnato, a destra da un angelo, da un demonio a sinistra, è
tanto antica quanto ovvia [278], e poichè, mentre dura la vita di
quello, i due spiriti avversarii tentano di sopraffarsi a vicenda, l'uno
persuadendo il bene, l'altro istigando al male, ragion vuole che il
contrasto non cessi, anzi si faccia più vivo in quel supremo momento
in cui si decide il destino immutabile delle anime e si suggella
sopr'esse l'eternità. In una lettera che i vescovi Remensi e
Rotomagensi scrissero nell'858 a Luigi il Germanico si dice che i
diavoli sono sempre presenti alla morte degli uomini, così dei
malvagi, come dei giusti [279]; e poichè, da altra banda, son pur
presenti gli angeli, il contrasto è inevitabile. Un tale, di cui narra la
Visione S. Bonifazio, apostolo della Germania (683-755), assistè a
una specie di contrasto generale delle milizie celesti e infernali:
Innumerabilem quoque malignorum spirituum turbam nec non et
clarissimum chorum supernorum angelorum adfuisse, narravit. Et
maximam inter se miserrimos spiritus et sanctos angelos de
animabus egredientibus de corpore disputationem habuisse,
daemones accusando et peccatorum pondus gravando, angelos vero
relevando et excusando [280]. Nel Muspilli è detto che ogni qual volta
un'anima esce dal corpo angeli e diavoli s'azzuffan tra loro.
L'immaginazione di sì fatti contrasti è assai antica. Nella epistola
cattolica di Giuda, tenuta ora generalmente apocrifa dai critici, ma
che si trova già ricordata nel secondo secolo, si accenna (v. 9) ad un
alterco che l'arcangelo Michele ebbe col diavolo pel corpo di
Mosè [281]. Di Sant'Antonio racconta Sant'Atanasio, che una volta fu
rapito in ispirito, e levato dagli angeli in cielo. I diavoli, ciò vedendo,
cominciarono a contrastare, e gli angeli a chiedere perchè il
facessero, non essendo in Antonio macchia di peccato. I diavoli
allora presero a ricordare tutti i peccati che egli aveva commessi
prima di abbracciare la vita solitaria, sin dalla nascita, e ad
aggiungerne molt'altri, da loro calunniosamente inventati.
Finalmente, non riuscendo loro la cosa, sgombrarono il passo [282]. I
Mongoli credono che ogni anima d'uomo che muore giunga in
presenza del supremo giudice accompagnata da uno spirito buono e
da un spirito malvagio, i quali, con sassolini bianchi e neri fanno il
novero delle sue buone e cattive azioni.
Il contrasto è più spesso tra demonii e angeli; talvolta è tra demonii
e santi, come si vede nella lettera apocrifa che si volle scritta da S.
Cirillo, arcivescovo di Gerusalemme a Sant'Agostino, e nella Visione
che un sant'uomo ebbe della liberazione dell'anima di re
Dagoberto [283]. Talvolta pure è tra i demonii e la Vergine, e ne' varii
casi assume varia forma e vario carattere, secondo tempi, luoghi, e
condizioni di persone. Come s'è veduto, Dante accenna appena ad
un diverbio; anzi diverbio propriamente non pone, giacchè S.
Francesco nulla risponde alle ragioni del diavolo loico, e nulla
risponde l'angelo ai rimproveri del vinto avversario. Ma di forme così
parche e temperate non avrebbe potuto appagarsi nè la fantasia dei
mistici, nè la fantasia popolare, e per esse il contrasto doveva,
facendosi sempre più grossolano, accogliere in sè tutti i possibili
modi della contestazione e della contesa. Il libro dove sono notate
tutte le buone azioni, e il libro, di solito molto maggiore, dove tutti i
peccati son registrati, l'uno recato dagli angeli, l'altro dai diavoli,
figurano già nella storia di un malvagio cavaliere del re Coenredo,
narrata da Beda [284], ripetuta dal Passavanti. Essi trovansi del resto
anche in altre mitologie. I Mongoli credono che il dio della morte ha
un libro dove nota tutte le azioni degli uomini. In altre leggende
cristiane si ha la bilancia con cui angeli e diavoli pesano azioni buone
e cattive [285]. In una delle Visioni di S. Furseo, i demonii disputano
assai dottamente con gli angeli di peccati e di penitenza, citano le
Scritture, e non si mostrano men buoni dialettici del diavolo che se
ne porta l'anima di Guido [286]. Per l'anima di Baronto contrastano
due demonii e l'arcangelo Raffaele. Disputano un giorno intero,
senza venire a nessuna conclusione: allora l'arcangelo, spazientito,
tenta di levar senz'altro l'anima in cielo; ma invano, perchè l'uno dei
demonii l'acchiappa dal lato sinistro, l'altro, da tergo, la tempesta di
calci. La battaglia dura un pezzo, si fa più aspra. Sopraggiungono
altri quattro demonii in ajuto de' compagni, altri due angeli in ajuto
di Raffaele. Dàgli e picchia, finalmente le potestà celesti
trionfano [287]. Notevole esempio di antropomorfismo anche questo,
da aggiungersi agl'infinti onde è piena la storia di tutte le religioni.
Con certe forme di tali contrasti ha stretta relazione quello che fu
chiamato il processo di Satana, di cui io qui non mi curo [288]. Noterò
solo che in Dante il contrasto non passa oltre ad un grado, che si
potrebbe chiamare, sebbene impropriamente, di prima istanza. Nè S.
Francesco per l'anima di Guido, nè il demonio per l'anima di
Buonconte, si richiamano di quanto nel primo caso risolve il diavolo
loico, di quanto nel secondo pare abbia già risoluto l'angelo. Così
non avviene in molti altri contrasti. Nella Visione di S. Furseo angelo
e demonio, non potendo accordarsi circa il possesso di un'anima, si
appellano a Dio. Giacomo da Vitry narra di un gran peccatore che, in
punto di morte si confessò al diavolo, credendo confessarsi a un
prete. Morto il peccatore, angeli e demonii furono, contrastando,
intorno all'anima, e quelli dicevano che la confessione era valida,
perchè fatta in buona fede, e questi gridavano che non poteva
valere, perchè fatta al demonio. Per giudizio di Dio il peccatore
risuscitò e potè rifare la confessione. Questa storia è ripetuta dal
Cavalca [289].
Degno di attenzione nel secondo contrasto narrato da Dante è il mal
governo che il demonio, non potendo avere l'anima, fa del corpo di
Buonconte [290]; giacchè, di solito, non è data ai demonii potestà di
offendere i corpi di chi muore riconciliato con Dio. Bensì sono spesso
dati loro in balìa i corpi degli scelerati le cui anime vanno in Inferno;
e molte storie spaventevoli si raccontano di corpi che furono
strappati a furia fuor delle chiese, bruciati negli avelli, o fatti a pezzi.
Le peripezie del corpo di Pilato sono note abbastanza.
Ma qui viene in taglio un'altra osservazione. Il diavolo loico prende
l'anima di Guido da Montefeltro, e la porta a Minosse, che la giudica
e la manda fra i rei del foco furo [291]. Come ciò? Dice Virgilio che le
anime di coloro che muojon nell'ira di Dio convengnon d'ogni paese
alla triste riviera d'Acheronte, e che son pronte a passare il fiume,
così spronandole la divina giustizia che la tema si volge in desio [292].
Se esse convengono di per sè al fiume; se Caronte è quegli che le
traghetta; se per tal via giungono in cospetto del giudice infernale,
come va che l'anima di Guido è portata al giudizio da un diavolo? Si
può rispondere che Dante, narrando il passaggio delle anime oltre il
fiume ebbe in mente il mito pagano, e che narrando poi di Guido, si
scordò quel mito, e si sovvenne della comune credenza de' tempi
suoi, secondo la quale le anime malvage erano portate via dai
diavoli, e non le anime soltanto, ma qualche volta anche i corpi. Nè
Dante ebbe a sovvenirsene in questo caso soltanto. Il diavolo che
porta nella bolgia dei barattieri l'anziano di santa Zita, dice:

Mettetel sotto, ch'io torno per anche

A quella terra che n'ho ben fornita [293].

Anche nell'Inferno dantesco i diavoli hanno per ufficio di tormentare i

dannati; ma bisogna subito dire che tale officio essi non adempiono
con la frequenza, il furore, l'atrocità di cui porgono tanti esempii le
altre Visioni. Caronte si contenta di battere col remo qualunque si
adagia [294]; poi, per tutto il primo e secondo cerchio, come già
innanzi nel vestibolo dove sono i vigliacchi [295], non è più cenno di
diavoli tormentatori, fino a Cerbero, che

Graffia gli spirti, gli scuoja ed isquatra [296].

Minosse assegna soltanto a ciascun'anima la pena adeguata. Dante

volle, non senza un concetto profondo, che i dannati trovassero lor
castigo, almeno nella più parte dei casi, in una condizione
prestabilita, in un ordinamento fisso e costante di pene, nelle quali i
demonii non han troppa ingerenza, e volle ancora sovente che i
dannati stessi fossero gli uni contro gli altri esecutori e strumenti del
meritato castigo. Così gli avari e i prodighi del quarto cerchio
percotonsi coi pesi che van voltando per forza di poppa [297]; così le
fangose genti fanno strazio di Filippo Argenti [298]; così il conte
Ugolino rode il teschio dell'arcivescovo Ruggieri con denti come d'un
can forti [299]. Però non vediamo nell'Inferno di Dante demonii far
bollire le anime in pentole affocate, arrostirle infisse in lunghi spiedi,
struggerle in padelle roventi, segarle per lungo e per traverso, come
in tante Visioni e rappresentazioni dell'Inferno interviene. L'orribile
cuoco dell'Inferno di Giacomino da Verona [300] non ha luogo
nell'Inferno di Dante, dove l'opera dei diavoli tormentatori comincia
propriamente solo nel primo girone del settimo cerchio. Quivi i
Centauri vanno a mille a mille intorno al fosso, saettando le anime
che alcuna parte di sè levan fuori dal sangue bollente [301]. Ora, col
settimo cerchio comincia quella parte dell'Inferno nella quale sono
puniti i più malvagi, secondo dice Virgilio [302]. Da indi in poi
troviamo, per non parlare delle cagne nere, bramose e correnti che
inseguono e lacerano i violenti contro a se stessi [303], e dei serpi che
mordono i ladri [304], le Arpie, le quali si pascono delle fronde degli
arbusti in che pure le anime dei violenti contro a se stessi son
prigioniere [305]; i diavoli cornuti, che con grandi sferze battono di
dietro i mezzani [306]; quelli che coi raffii arroncigliano i
barattieri [307]; il diavolo che accisma i seminatori di scandalo e di
scisma [308]; Lucifero, che maciulla i tre massimi peccatori, e col
vento delle grandi ale aggela Cocito [309].
Ma i demonii cui è commesso l'ufficio di tormentare i dannati
soffrono essi pure una qualche pena, oltre a quella cui soggiacciono
per la esclusione dal regno dei cieli, e per l'avvilimento di lor natura,
conseguenza della caduta? Non mancano scrittori i quali dicono che
dei tormenti infernali essi non soffrono, perchè, se ne soffrissero,
assai di mala voglia attenderebbero a quel loro officio, e all'altro di
tentare i cristiani; e spesso nelle rappresentazioni dell'arte i diavoli
tormentatori mostrano in viso il compiacimento che provano di quel
loro esercizio. Del solo Lucifero Dante accenna, più che non narri,
l'intimo crucio, quando dice che

Con sei occhi piangeva, e per tre menti

Gocciava il pianto e sanguinosa bava [310].

Il Lucifero di Dante è confitto nel ghiaccio, nè si può muovere:

altrove siede tra le fiamme, o è dagli stessi demonii suoi arrostito a
fuoco vivo. Ad ogni modo le torture dei demonii non sono senza
refrigerio, se è vero, come gli scrittori affermano, che essi godono
del commesso peccato, dell'ingiuria fatta a Dio e ai santi, dell'anima
che piomba in Inferno, dei mali infiniti che affliggono la misera
umanità. Dante dice che Lucifero nel suo fondo si placa, vedendo le
brutture e le nefandità della Curia di Roma [311].

VII.

I diavoli che Dante trova nella quinta bolgia del cerchio ottavo, se
hanno del terribile, hanno anche del comico. Essi stringono la lingua
coi denti per far cenno al lor duce, come è usanza dei monelli, e il lor
duce fa trombetta di ciò che non occorre rammentare [312]. Si
lasciano ingannare da Ciampolo, o chi altri si sia il famiglio del buon
re Tebaldo [313], e due di loro, Alichino e Calcabrina, si azzuffano per
ciò, e cadono nel bel mezzo del bollente stagno [314].
Diavoli così fatti, se possono incutere terrore (e molto ne incutono a
Dante), possono anche muovere a riso, ed hanno grande
somiglianza con quelli che si vedono trescare per entro ai Misteri e
alle Moralità del medio evo. Io non ho a ricercare qui come la
fantasia popolare, e anche la non popolare, pure ingombre come
erano dei terrori dell'Inferno, giungessero a ideare il demonio
burlesco, sciocco, ridicolo. Molti elementi concorrono in sì fatto
concetto, a sceverare i quali sarebbe necessaria un'accurata analisi.
Ricorderò solo che il diavolo appar ridicolo in numerose
leggende [315], e che viene un tempo in cui l'officio principale suo
sulla scena è quello di far ridere gli spettatori [316].
Se fu in Francia, il che è assai dubbio, Dante può avervi veduto, in
certe rappresentazioni di sacro argomento,, diavoli molto simili a
quelli ch'ei pone nella bolgia dei barattieri, poichè, già nel XII secolo,
alla rappresentazione del Mistère d'Adam, si vedevano demonii
correre per la piazza, tra il popolo [317]: ma è da credere che anche
in Italia Dante potesse vedere così fatti demonii, sebbene sia vero
ciò che nota il D'Ancona, non avere, cioè, più tardi, nelle Sacre
Rappresentazioni nostre, il diavolo raggiunto mai quel grado di
ridicolo che raggiunse in Francia [318]. La rappresentazione
dell'Inferno, fattasi in Firenze nel 1304, e nella quale erano, secondo
narra Giovanni Villani [319], diavoli orribili a vedere, è possibile non si
facesse in quell'anno la prima volta. In una sua costituzione, del
1210, Innocenzo III parla di monstra larvarum, che s'introducevano
nelle chiese, ed è assai probabile che tra esse ce ne fossero di
diaboliche.
Anche i nomi che Dante dà a que' suoi demonii rimandano a Misteri
e a Sacre rappresentazioni, dove nomi consimili occorrono frequenti.
Tali Misteri e tali Sacre Rappresentazioni sono, gli è vero, posteriori
alla Divina Commedia; ma nulla vieta di credere che essi
occorressero già in drammi più antichi, non pervenuti sino a noi [320].
 NOTE

79. Inf., XXIII, 142-4.

80. Non so che il tema da me preso a trattare in questo scritto

sia stato già trattato da altri, ordinatamente e in modo
compiuto. I commentatori non troppo se ne impacciarono,
e nel toccarlo errarono spesso. Coloro che di proposito
discorsero della teologia di Dante, come Gian Lorenzo
Berti, Melchiorre Missirini, A. F. Ozanam, Antonio Fischer,
Ferdinando Piper, Fr. Hettinger, altri, nemmeno essi se ne
curarono gran che, quasi fosse argomento di poca
importanza trattandosi del poeta che descrive fondo a
tutto l'universo. Fr. Hettinger, l'ultimo venuto, se ne sbriga
in un pajo di pagine. (Die Theologie der göttlichen
Komödie des Dante Alighieri in ihren Grundzügen. Erste
Vereinschrift der Görres-Gesellschaft für 1879, Colonia,
1879, pp. 37-9). Gli scritti seguenti concernono in
particolar modo questo o quello dei demonii danteschi, ma
sono per la più parte condotti con criterii puramente
letterarii ed estetici, o hanno speciale riguardo alla
significazione allegorica, della quale io non mi curo: F.
Lanci, Della forma di Gerione e di molti particolari ad esso
demone attenenti, in Giornale arcadico, nuova serie, t. VII;
L. C. Ferrucci, Sul Cerbero di Dante, in Giornale arcadico, t.
XXII; G. Franciosi, Il Satana dantesco in Scritti danteschi,
Firenze, 1876; 2ª ediz., Parma, 1889; P. G. Giozza, Iddio e
Satana nel poema di Dante, Palermo (s. a.); V.
Miagostovich, Lucifero nella Divina Commedia di Dante
(Programm der Städtischen Ober-Realschule in Triest),
 Trieste, 1878; R. Fornaciari, Il mito delle Furie in Dante, in
Nuova Antologia, 15 agosto, 1879; inserito poi nel volume
Studi su Dante, Milano, 1883, pp. 47-93. V. Duina, L'ira e i
mostri dell'Inferno dantesco, Commentarî dell'Ateneo di
Brescia per l'anno 1886. Cf. nel vol. VI, pte 1ª, della Storia
della letteratura italiana di Adolfo Bartoli, Firenze, 1887,
uscito in luce dopo la prima pubblicazione del presente
scritto, il capitolo intitolato I Demoni, gli Angeli, le Persone
Divine. Senza sapere l'uno degli studii dell'altro sopra
questo speciale argomento, il dottissimo mio amico ed io ci
trovammo concordi in molte opinioni e conclusioni.

81. Tratt. III, c. 13.

82. V. 83. Cfr. De vulg. el., I, 2.

83. Vv. 46-8.

84. Vv. 11-12.

85. V. 91.

86. Parad., XXIX, 49-51. Cfr. S. Tommaso, Summa theol., P. I,

qu. XLIII, art. 6.

87. Conv., III, 12. Punto delicato intorno a cui i teologi

annasparono assai.

88. Summa theol., P. I, qu. LXIII, art. 2.

89. Parad., XXIX, 55-7.

90. Parad., XIX, 46.

91. Inf., XXXIV, 35.

92. Conv., II, 6. Cfr. Alberto Magno, Summa theol., P. II, tratt.
IV, qu. 20, m. 1; S. Tommaso, Summa theol., P. I, qu. LXIII,
 art. 7, 9.

93. Purgat., XII, 27. Nell'evangelo di Luca, X, 18, è scritto:

Videbam Satanam sicut fulgur de coelo cadentem.

94. Inf., XXXIV, 122-6.

95. Vedi le giuste osservazioni che a questo luogo appunto fa

lo Scartazzini nel suo commento.

96. Inf., III, 34-42.

97. Il solo passo delle Scritture che, volendo, si potrebbe in

qualche modo adattare alla condizione e al castigo degli
angeli neutrali, è nell'Apocalissi, III, 15, 16: Scio opera
tua: quia neque frigidus es, neque calidus: utinam frigidus
esses, aut calidus: — Sed quia tepidus es, et nec frigidus,
nec calidus, incipiam te evomere ex ore meo.

98. Uno di quegli strani uccelli dice a S. Brandano: «Nos

sumus de magna illa ruina antiqui hostis; set non
peccando aut consentiendo sumus lapsi; set Dei pietate
predestinati, nam ubi sumus creati, per lapsum istius cum
suis satellitibus contigit nostra ruina. Deus autem
omnipotens, qui justus est et verax, suo judicio misit nos
in istum locum. Penas non sustinemus. Presentiam Dei ex
parte non videre possumus, tantum alienavit nos
consorcium illorum, qui steterunt. Vagamur per diversas
partes hujus seculi, aeris et firmamenti et terrarum sicut et
alii spiritus qui mittuntur. Set in sanctis diebus dominicis,
accipimus corpora talia que tu vides, et per Dei
dispensacionem commoramur hic et laudamus creatorem
nostrum». (Jubinal, La légende latine de S. Brandaines,
Parigi, 1836, p. 16). La ragione del cadere, oscura, a dir
vero, un po' più del bisogno, non fu troppo bene intesa da
rifacitori e da trascrittori, e non è nelle varie redazioni
espressa sempre a un modo; ma il concetto fondamentale
 passa in quasi tutte. Vedi Jubinal, Op. cit., pp. 70-71, 121;
Schroeder, Sanct Brandan. Ein lateinischer und drei
deutsche Texte, Erlangen, 1871, pp. 12, 78; Francisque
Michel, Les voyages merveilleux de Saint Brandan, Parigi,
1878, pp. 26-7; Villari, Alcune leggende e tradizioni che
illustrano la Divina Commedia, in Annali delle Università
toscane, t. VIII, Pisa, 1866, p. 143; ecc. Nel testo italiano
pubblicato dal Villari di su un codice Magliabechiano del
secolo XIV, l'uccello dice al santo: «O servo di Dio, noi
siamo di quella grande compagnia che caddono di cielo
con quello agnolo Lucifero, lo quale è nimico dell'umana
generazione. Noi non peccammo per noi, ma per
consentimento; e per questo non siamo dove noi fummo
creati, anzi siamo cacciati di fuori con quelli che peccarono
gravemente». Cfr. Alberto Magno, Summa theol., P. II,
tratt. IV, qu. 20, m. 2. Il riscontro fu, del resto, già notato
dall'Ozanam, Dante et la philosophie catholique au treizième
siècle, nuova ediz., Parigi, 1845, p. 343, e dal D'Ancona, I
precursori di Dante, Firenze, 1874, p. 52.

99. Ecco in che modo uno di quegli uccelli informa Ugone di

loro caduta e di loro stato. I versi che seguono, e di cui
debbo comunicazione alla grande gentilezza del prof.
Tobler, sono tolti dalla redazione più antica giunta sino a
noi, e contenuta in un codice del Museo Regio di Berlino,
già Hamilton, codice finito di scrivere nel 1341, e
identificato con quello che si registra nel noto catalogo dei
libri posseduti da Federico Gonzaga nel 1407 (Vedi Tobler,
Die Berliner Handschrift des Huon d'Auvergne, in
Sitzungsb. d. k. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., phil.-hist. Cl., vol.
XXVII, 1884):

Qvant li ber oit soe oraison complie,

Vn des osiaus qe auech soy stesie
En l'auernaus lengaçe le desplie:
Tu as diex del tron feit proierie,
 Par qui ci somes de sauoir en partie:
Nos le diron: or met bien en oie.
A yh'u plest qe auqes de ses secrie
Sauome en part, qe autremant non mie.
Conois adonqe qe sons de cel regnie,
Que deualla en l'abis parfondie,
Que enferne mant homes apellie.
De celle entente non somes nemie,
Quant vint le pont de la departie,
Tot environ le ciel avoit scrolie:
Angle et archangle, et tot le monarchie,
Tot de paor auront tuit fremie,
Sol a la voiç deu per, quant ot parllie.
Tot li malfer iluech si demostrie;
Tant defendrent cum auront uigorie:
Quant non porent il plus, aual sont
trabuchie;
Autre remis en aer, autre in terre icie,
Autre en abisme trauailient la lor uie.

Vasal, dit li diable en forme d'oiselons,

Nos, qe ci somes, ne bien, ni mal feisons;
Mes pur il ere la nostre entencions
Te tenir sempre cum cil qi uencerons.
Por ce qe deu per conoit nos pensasons,
En guisse de oisel trasfigura cum sons.
D'alor auant uenimes a cis mons,
Maint torment auomes, mais de peior lisons.
Vne uos en diray, les autres taiserons,
Que a uos riens ne fesist, se elle conterons.
En air et en mer façon nos peschesons,
Si cum onde nos maine tot ensinqe alons:
Pescher sauomes et nulle nen prendrons:
Ensi estoit nostre destrucions.
Vn ior de la semaine une remedie auons;
 Ce estoit la domenege, qe enei nos
demorons:
Ce estoit li nostre paradis, qui clamons;
Ci aurons hosteler, anuit demorerons;
Pues domain al aube apres si partirons,
E sosteromes ce qe destineç nos sons.
Mentre qe nos ci somes auons repoisesons;
Enforçon nostre uoiç al bien dir qe poisons,
Tot a los de deu pere, ce bien sauons.

Par foy, ce dit le cont, bele uertue aues,

Pois qe remedie da deu aues uos troues;
E deu sor tot soie regracies.
D'une autre çouse uoil auoir da uos scoutes:
Si uos riens de ma qeste car rien uos en
saves.
J'en sai tant, fit il, cum vos oir pores.
Vestre uoie ert mout longe de ci, uoil qe
sachies;
Sanç la deuine puisance la aler non poreç
mes.
Mes bien plait a deu, et si moy ert rouelles,
Que en ceste este sia del tot aquites;
Mes auant qe cil auiegne uereç meruoille
ases:
Non say plus de ce dir: uostre signor serues:
Si l'ameç de bon quuer, il ert uestre auoes,
Qui en la fin ert chaschun de soe oure loes;
Le merit en atent de tot ce cha oures.
E ge l'en croy trop bien, respond li quuens
ades.

Lo stesso si ha, su per giù, nel testo della Nazionale di

Torino, cod. N, III, 19, f. 116 r. a 117 r., e nel romanzo in
prosa (Andrea da Barberino, Storia di Ugone d'Alvernia,
Bologna, 1882, Scelta di cur. lett., disp. 188, 190, vol. II,
 p. 33). Nel testo della Biblioteca del Seminario in Padova,
cod. 82, questa parte manca, come il prof. Crescini mi
avverte, e come può anche rilevarsi dall'analisi che egli ne
diede (Orlando nella Chanson de Roland e nei poemi del
Boiardo e dell'Ariosto. Segue una appendice sul poema
franco-veneto Ugo d'Alvernia, estratto dal Propugnatore,
vol. XIII, 1880, p. 96).

100.
Vedi quanto osserva in proposito il Renier, La discesa di
Ugo d'Alvernia allo Inferno, Bologna, 1883 (Scelta di cur.
lett., disp. 194), pp. cxlv-cliv. La imitazione di Dante è del
resto già penetrata nella redazione più antica, del codice di
Berlino.

101.
Ediz. di C. Bartsch, Lipsia, 1870-1, l. IX, vv. 1155-65. Lo
stesso Trevrizent, per altro, confessa poi a Parzival che
quanto disse in proposito è favola (l. XVI, vv. 341-60). Cfr.
Birch-Hirschfeld, Die Sage vom Gral, ihre Entwicklung und
dichterische Ausbildung in Frankreich und Deutschland im
12. und 13. Jahrhundert, Lipsia, 1877, p. 250.

102.
Satana, Beelzebub, Lucifero, sono per Dante tre nomi dello
stesso principe dei demonii.

103.
Che Proserpina sia tra i demonii si argomenta, sebbene il
poeta non dica altro di lei, dai vv. 43-4 del c. IX
dell'Inferno, e da quelle parole di Farinata degli Uberti, X,
79-81:

Ma non cinquanta volte fia raccesa

La faccia della donna che qui regge,
Che tu saprai quanto quell'arte pesa.
104.
Per esempio, nell'Hamartigenia di Prudenzio, nei
Commentarii in Genesim di Claudio Mario Vittore, in un
inno di Rabano Mauro, nel De imagine mundi di Onorio
d'Autun, ecc., ecc. Cfr. Maury, La magie et l'astrologie dans
l'antiquité et au moyen-âge, Parigi, 1877, pp. 168-9. San
Giovanni Crisostomo biasimò (Adv. oppugnat. vitae
monasticae, II, 10), quest'assimilazione dell'Inferno
cristiano all'Inferno pagano, ma senza frutto.

105.
Ediz. di Francisque Michel, Parigi, 1864, vv. 20212-40.

106.
Anticlaudianus, VIII, 3.

107. Cfr. Roskoff, Geschichte des Teufels, Lipsia, 1869, vol. II,
pp. 2-3.

108.
San Gerolamo, De vita S. Pauli eremitae. Nella Vita che di
Sant'Antonio scrisse Sant'Atanasio di Alessandria, si dice
che quel santo vide una volta un mostro, che, sino al
pube, aveva figura d'uomo, il resto d'asino: a un segno di
croce sparì.

109.
Cfr. Piper, Mythologie der christlichen Kunst, Weimar, 1847-
51, vol. I, pp. 405-6.

110.
Otia imperialia, in einer Auswahl neu herausgegeben von
Felix Liebrecht, Hannover, 1856, prima decis., XVIII; tertia
decis., LXXVI. Tale credenza era assai antica: cfr. Giovanni
Cassiano, Collationes patrum, collat. VIII, c. 32.
111.
Anecdotes historiques, légendes et apologues tirés du
recueil inédit d'Etienne de Bourbon, publiés par A. Lecoy de
la Marche, Parigi, 1877, p. 327. Satiri e fauni si
confondevano coi dusii, ricordati dallo stesso Gervasio e da
altri. Vedi Otia imperialia, ed. cit., p. 145, e Giacomo Grimm,
Deutsche Mythologie, 4ª ediz., Berlino, 1875-8, vol. I, p.
398.

112.
Per la leggenda di Giuliano l'Apostata e per le varie
leggende in cui comparisce la Venere diabolica, vedi il mio
libro, Roma nella memoria e nelle immaginazioni del medio
evo, Torino, 1882-3, vol. II, pp. 121-52, 382-406. Giovanni
Nyder (m. 1438) racconta ancora nel suo Formicarius la
storia di un cavaliere che, addormentatosi pensando di
penetrare nel Monte di Venere, si trovò, allo svegliarsi, in
un pantano.

113.
Chronographia, ad a. 998.

114.
Gervasio da Tilbury, Op. cit., tertia decis., LXI; Tommaso
Cantipratense, Bonum universale de apibus, Duaci, 1627, l.
II, c. 57, num. 5.

115.
Gervasio da Tilbury, Op. cit., tertia decis., LXIV. Anche S.
Brandano incontra sirene in certe redazioni della leggenda;
Brunetto Latini alle sirene classiche (ricordate con certa
frequenza dai lirici nostri delle origini) non crede più, e
anche Dante sembra ricordarle solo come un mito (Purg.,
XIX, 19; XXXI, 45; Parad., XII, 8). Cfr. Berger de Xivrey,
Traditions tératologiques, Parigi, 1886, pp. 25-7, 539;
 Piper, Op. cit., pp. 383 sgg. Il diavolo fu spesso
rappresentato in figura di sirena.

116.
Giacomo da Voragine, Legenda aurea, ediz. di Th. Grässe,
Dresda e Lipsia, 1846; c. III, 5, p. 24; Vincenzo
Bellovacense, Speculum historiale, l. XIII, c. 71.

117. Vedi Passio S. Symphoriani in Ruinart, Acta martyrum

sincera, Verona, 1731, p. 71, col. 1ª. Circa il diavolo
meridiano, vedi Gregorio di Tours, Historia Francorum, l.
VIII, c. 33, e De miraculis S. Martini, l. IV, c. 36; Vita S.
Rusticulae in Mabillon, Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti,
saec. II, p. 135, n. c.; Cesario di Heisterbach, Dialogus
miraculorum, ed. dello Strange, 1851, dist. V, cap. 2.
Meridiana (o Marianna) chiamavasi il diavolo succubo con
cui, secondo la leggenda, ebbe commercio Gerberto.

118.
Du Cange, Glossarium, s. v. Dianum.

119.
Libri duo de sinodalibus caussis et disciplinis ecclesiasticis,
ediz. di Lipsia, 1840, l. II, c. 37.

120.
Libri decretorum collect., l. X, c. 1

121.
Decretum, II, 26, quaest. 5, 12, § 1.

122.
XIII, De sortilegis et sortiariis, ap. Baluze, Capitularia
regum Francorum, t. II, col. 365.

123.
Op. cit., pp. 323-4.
124.
Sermones discipuli de tempore et de sanctis, serm. 11. Cfr.
Soldan, Geschichte der Hexenprozesse, ediz. rifatta da
Enrico Heppe, Stoccarda, 1880, vol. I, pp. 130-1.

125.
Vedi G. Grimm, Op. cit., vol. II, p. 778, n. 2; vol. III, p.
282.

126.
In D'Achery, Spicilegium veterum aliquot scriptorum etc.,
1ª ediz., t. V, p. 215. Cfr. Caspari, Eine Augustin fälschlich
beilegte Homilia de sacrilegiis, Cristiania, 1886, pp. 18-9.

127. Vedi Liudprando, Liber de rebus gestis Ottonis Magni

imperatoris, ap. Pertz, Mon. Germ., Script., t. III, p. 343.
Cfr. Vogel, Ratherius von Verona und das zehnte
Jahrhundert, Jena, 1854, vol. I, p. 284.

128.
Vedi Schroeder, Glaube und Aberglaube in den
altfranzösischen Dichtungen, Erlangen, 1886, pp. 63 sgg.

129.
Dreyer, Der Teufel in der deutschen Dichtung des
Mittelalters, P. 1ª, Rostock, 1884, p. 18.

130.
Per es., nel Rhytmus de pugna fontanetica, ap. Duemmler,
Poëtae latini aevi Carolini, t. II, Berlino, 1883-84, p. 138;
nel Liber de fonte vitae di Andrado Modico, id., t. III, P. 1ª,
1886, p. 78, ecc., ecc.

131.
Visio Tnugdali, ediz. Schade, Halis Saxonum, 1869, c. 11;
Wagner, Visio Tnugdali, lateinisch und altdeutsch,
Erlangen, 1882, p. 31. Così pure nelle versioni.
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