Ancient Coins
The heaviest drachma minted in Alexandria has ever appeared in the world.
What is the heaviest drachma in the world, minted in Alexandria? Introduction: Egypt fell under Roman rule in 30 BC after the Battle of Actium, in which Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII clashed on one side, and Octavian and the Roman legions on the other. The end of the battle marked the beginning of the Roman province of Egypt…
August 17, 2023Reviving the Egyptian Mint
The Ottoman governor Ibrahim Pasha al-Qabtan established the first Egyptian mint, or as it was known, the Darbkhana (minthouse), in the Citadel between his mosque and palace in 1709 AD (1121 AH). It remained in existence until it was renovated by Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1812 AD (1227 AH). He continued to patronize it, ordering its expansion and the addition of areas for scales, gold testing, and a prayer room…
May 31, 2023Striked in Egypt, the history behind the coin inscriptions
Under the title "Struck in Egypt," a cultural seminar was held on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at the Cairo Opera House. Organized by the Cairo Biography Initiative in cooperation with the Civilization Cinema Center, the seminar featured a lecture by numismatic researcher Professor Mohamed Abdel Hamid, who posed the question of how history can be discerned from the inscriptions on coins, and…
May 16, 2023Nubnefer, an Egyptian coin from the last Egyptian pharaoh
A gold coin of King Nectanebo II, known as the “Nubnefer“ coin, was recently offered at Spink Auctions on April 3, 2023. Nectanebo II was the third and last king of the Thirtieth Dynasty, as well as the last native ruler of ancient Egypt. He reigned for 10 years between 360 and 342 BC before being overthrown by the Ptolemies. The Nubnefer coin – the first…
April 9, 2023A forged document for the sale of the coin of Julius Caesar's assassin
One of the rarest coins in the world, a replica of the Aurelius Brutus coin (the assassin of Julius Caesar), was sold with a forged title deed, and the seller was arrested! What happened? Richard Beale, owner and managing director of Roma Numismatics, was arrested…
March 13, 2023Arabization of Islamic currency
The Arabization of Islamic coinage went through several gradual stages. Changing the circulating currency was not an easy task, and the internal conflicts within the Caliphate greatly hindered the process. When Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was proclaimed Caliph in Damascus, he did not effectively control most of the Caliphate's territories, and years passed before he was able to…
January 6, 2023Cleopatra VII Coins: Correcting the Timeline and Geographical Space
Al-Muqtani Al-Arabi magazine announces a cultural lecture titled “Cleopatra VII Coins – Correcting the Timeline and Geographical Space” via Zoom, in collaboration with Engineer Mohamed Abdel Hamid, an Egyptian engineer and independent researcher in numismatic history. The lecture will take place on Friday, January 13, 2023, and participants will receive an electronic certificate from Al-Muqtani Al-Arabi magazine. Queen Cleopatra…
January 2, 2023Ancient coinage techniques and minting errors
The Arab Collector's Magazine announces a symposium entitled "Ancient Coinage Techniques and Resulting Minting Errors Throughout the Ages," to be held via Zoom in collaboration with Dr. Al-Mu'taz Billah Al-Saeed Al-Shahawi, an antiquities restoration specialist at the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and a researcher at the American Research Center. The symposium will take place on December 30th and 31st, 2022, and participants will receive an electronic certificate from the magazine.
December 21, 2022Cleopatra III
Cleopatra III was a difficult woman even by the standards of the Ptolemaic queens, who were known for their strength, thirst for power, and willingness to commit despicable acts in order to dominate. She was the woman who rebelled against her mother, plotted to remove her eldest son, and installed the youngest in his place to make him easier to control. This youngest then killed her…
December 10, 2022Kingdom Bacteria
The Greek kingdom of Bactria, located in the far east of the Hellenistic world, was situated between India and Iran, encompassing present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Its capital was called Bactria, or Bakhtra, which is the modern-day city of Balkh in Afghanistan. The similarity in the name is clear, as you can see…
December 1, 2022Nob Nefer currency
The Nubnefer or Tachos coin is one of the oldest Egyptian coins. This particular Nubnefer coin was minted around 350 BC, during the reign of King Nectanebo II of the 33rd Dynasty. On the obverse, you can see Greek influences in the horse motif. On the reverse, you can see two Egyptian symbols…
November 30, 2022The Emperor God
The Emperor as God… The Reason for the Name: Why was the emperor called God? During the Roman Republic, the deification of rulers was unthinkable, but after the expansion eastward and the rise of the Roman Empire, and after Octavian became Augustus Caesar, the situation changed. The same thing had happened previously with the Greeks; before Alexander the Great's eastward expansions, the idea of…
November 29, 2022Oldest coins of Jerusalem
What are the oldest coins of Jerusalem? One of the oldest coins of Jerusalem, if not the oldest of all, is a silver drachma minted at the beginning of the 4th century BC (we can also call the denomination a "quarter shekel" according to the Phoenician standard). The design is unique; on the obverse, we see a female frontal image representing a strange fusion between the Egyptian goddess Hathor and the Greek Medusa. The shape of the face and…
November 28, 2022Gaza's forgotten treasure
Let's explore the story of Gaza's forgotten treasure in detail. The discovery of the Gaza treasure occurred around the mid-1960s when a fisherman named Salama discovered a hoard of ancient coins in the sea off Gaza. The hoard consisted of 29 silver pieces of varying weights and styles. He immediately went to a goldsmith in Gaza, Khader Yousef Tarzi, who was known for buying antique coins, and…
May 26, 2022Ali bin Rashamouj
This dinar, dated 344 AH, presents a puzzle in Islamic numismatics. Firstly, Ali ibn Rashamuj is unknown and not mentioned in any historical source. Secondly, there is no mention of any Abbasid or Fatimid caliph on the dinar. Thirdly, the mint is unknown and its origin is unclear. However, we can discern some clues that provide some information: Firstly, the Shi'a traditions and the dinar's style are similar…
March 18, 2022Shajar al-Durr dinars
Shajar al-Durr... Queen of the Muslims, the Guardian of the World and Religion, Umm Khalil al-Salihiyya. Shajar al-Durr, a slave of Turkish origin, was one of the concubines of King al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub. She possessed sharp intelligence, a strong personality, and captivating beauty—a combination that, when combined in a woman, gives her a powerful influence on men. And if these men...
March 12, 2022History of currencies
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in cooperation with the Cairo Biography Initiative, is organizing a free seminar open to the public entitled “The History of Coins: A Study of Egyptian Coins as an Archaeological Source.” The seminar will be held at 7:00 PM on Monday, November 22nd, at the Bayt al-Sinnari archaeological site in Sayyida Zeinab, which is affiliated with the library. The seminar will focus on the importance of studying Egyptian coins as a direct archaeological source for understanding economic and cultural history…
November 21, 2021Massacre of the Directors of the Mint
Most of us have heard the story of the Citadel Massacre, in which Muhammad Ali Pasha eliminated the Mamluks, seeing them as a threat to his dreams of modernizing Egypt. But did you know, my friend, that a similar massacre took place long ago, targeting the officials of the mint? Our story didn't unfold in Egypt, but rather in medieval England…
February 22, 2021When was the date added to the coins?
Those who collect modern coins might smile if you asked them about the minting date of a particular piece. What you consider a 2020 issue, Ethiopians consider 2013, Israelis consider 5781, and Saudis consider 1442! The first to add dates to ancient coins were the Seleucids in 312 BC, when they began marking their coins to indicate when they were minted, starting from the date of their recapture of Babylon.
January 29, 2021From Numismatics to History
From the Sharjah Archaeology Authority: From Numismatics to History, and until another lecture with us! Don't forget to join us next week by scanning the QR code in the image or via the link below! https://zoom.us/…/tJcsfuugrDwtHdObPkZ3JWvvc1jgA7pkzlCI We will be waiting for you to embark on a journey through history together!
November 17, 2020