Silver Coin - The Byzantine Empire, The Arabs and Medieval Europe

The Byzantine Empire, The Arabs and Medieval Europe

In the Byzantine Empire, which was basically what was left of the eastern Roman Empire, the currency system was reorganised, but the coinage mostly consisted of copper and gold. A silver miliaresion was developed, usually with a cross on steps obverse and an inscription forming the reverse. Later, the cup-shaped (or 'scyphate') trachy were issued, but the silver content of these rapidly declined towards only a few per cent, finally ending up as a pure copper coin after the Fourth Crusade (13th century).

With Mohammed's revolution in the Arabian Peninsula, a new state was created in 622. After the death of Mohammed (632), the state was governed by caliphs, thus named 'the Caliphate'. As the caliphate expanded into Byzantine territories to the Northwest and conquered the Sassanian (Persian) Empire to the Northeast, the question of a caliphal coinage became imminent. The caliphate adapted the Sassanian drachm as their silver coin. Initially, Arabic inscriptions were added to the Sassanian coin type. Later, the type was completely revised, so as to include inscriptions and ornaments only. (Depictions of human beings is prohibited according to Sunni Islam). These coins are known in Arabic as dirhems. The dirhems of the caliphate gained wide acceptance. They are consequently found along trading routes in Ukraine, Russia and Scandinavia.

As the power balance within the caliphate changed (weaker central power), the names of local leaders, or feudal lords, were increasingly indicated on the dirhems. Various Arabic dynasties continued to issue dirhems for centuries after the demise of the classical caliphates. There is a great variety of types, although retaining the inscriptions and ornaments only formula.

In medieval Europe (outside the Byzantine Empire), the coinage was very complex, as the types were often different from one (small) region to another. In some regions, certain coin types became a commonly accepted coin type in inter-regional trade. For instance, the silver sceattas were a popular type of coin in England, the Netherlands and the Frisian region. The penny was a popular interregional silver coin, thus being known in several different languages as 'penny' (English), 'pfennig' (German) and 'penning' (Scandinavian languages). Medieval coin types frequently suffered from gradual debasement, and the coins were generally small. This changed when the great amounts of silver began to flow into Europe from the New World.