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12 Nummi of Byzantine Style
Not on view
The Byzantine Empire issued the gold solidus, or nomisma, used primarily for large transactions such as tax payments, and several denominations of copper coins, the money of daily business transactions. Mints in Antioch and Alexandria supplied the majority of the coinage circulated in the southern provinces. The newly established Arab government inherited an efficient monetary system and made few changes during its first decades. The caliph ‘Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705) introduced several issues of distinctively Islamic coinage.
Coins issued in Egypt are less varied than those of Syria, though they do follow similar patterns. Under the governor ‘Abd al-Aziz, ‘Abd al-Malik’s brother, a series of distinctive Islamic coins was issued. Archaeological finds suggest that Syria and Egypt formed separate economic zones.
This coin is an example of an early Arab issue based on a Byzantine prototype. The coin bears the mint signature MACP, the Arab encampment and eventual capital of Egypt known in Arabic as Misr or Masr (Fustat).
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