- YEMEN
UPDATE
-
- YEMEN
ARTICLES
A Guide to the
Bibliography of Yemeni Coinage
-
- by
- Michael L.
Bates
- (bates@amnumsoc.org)
- Curator of Islamic
Coins
- The American Numismatic Society
-
- [from Yemen Update
40 (1998):#6]
-
- Yemeni coinage was formerly little
known, with a literature consisting of a few scattered articles.
There has been an explosion of interest and new discoveries in the
last three decades. This is a very informal bibliography
extracted from my notes, with important help from others.
Additions, corrections, and comments are welcome and will be added
to future editions.
-
- This list incorporates substantial
material supplied by Jim Farr. Ed Hohertz and Jorgen Somod also
provided helpful suggestions. I am grateful to all of
them.
-
- general
references
-
- • Michael Mitchiner, Oriental
Coins and Their Values. London: Hawkins Publications, 1977-79.
Each of these three massive volumes provides a pictorial
representation of a huge sector of Eurasian coinage, making them
convenient for coin identification. The author's original and
stimulating synthetic historical-geographical organization is
noteworthy.
- I. The World of Islam (1977;
reprint 1998).
- II. The Ancient and Classical
World, 600 B.C.-AD 650 (1978).
- III. Non-Islamic States and
Western Colonies, AD 600-1979 (1979).
-
- ancient
Yemen
-
- This section incorporates material
compiled by Roxani Margariti of Princeton University, ANS Hamad
Fellow 1997-98.
- • Günther Dembski, "Die
Münzen der Arabia Felix," in Jemen (ed. Werner Daum;
Innsbruck and Frankfurt/Main), 132-34 = English edition,
125-28.
- • S. C. Munro-Hay, "Coins of
Ancient South Arabia," Numismatic Chronicle 154 (1994),
191-203. Includes a chart of all ancient South Arabian coin
types.
- • S. C. Munro-Hay, "Coins of
Ancient South Arabia, II," Numismatic Chronicle 156 (1996),
33-47. Presents major revisions and additions to the 1994 scheme
derived from new collections and publications. Particularly
important for imitation Attic tetradrachms and for Himyarite
issues.
- • S. C. Munro-Hay, Coinage of
Arabia Felix (reportedly forthcoming, 1996).
- • Mitchiner, Ancient and
Classical, 95-96.
-
- Aksum
-
- It is a fairly safe bet that some of the
coins of the Aksumites (and some of the imitations of their coins)
were struck in Yemen. The question is, which ones? The Aksumite
series is one of those very difficult ones in which the number of
attributions for any given coin is approximately 1.5 times the
number of specialists who have written about it.
- • Stuart Munro-Hay and Bent
Juel-Jensen, Aksumite Coinage. 1995. Revised and enlarged
edition of Munro-Hay, The Coinage of Aksum, 1984.
- • Wolfgang Hahn, "Die
Münzprügung des axumitischen Reiches," Litterae
Numismaticae Vindobonenses II (1983), 113-80.
- • E. Godet, "Bilan des recherches
recentes en numismatique axoumite," Revue Numismatique
1986, 186-87.
- • Mitchiner, Ancient and
Classical, 96-100.
-
- Islamic
period
- general
-
- • Stephen Album, A Checklist of
Islamic Coins (2nd edition; Santa Rosa, CA: The Author, 1998),
55-61. "Until about 1980, medieval Yemeni coinage was seldom seen
in the market. Since then, large quantities have emerged, large
numbers of new types, few of which have been published.... At
first... Yemeni coins sold for far more than other Islamic coins
of comparable rarity. Further increases in supply have depressed
the market and eliminated much of this disparity." The Checklist
only lists what is known, without descriptions, but includes a
mass of commentary, often of the greatest utility. Illustrations
have been postponed to a supplemental volume to
follow.
- • Ramzi J. Bikhazi, "Coins of
al-Yaman, 132-569 A.H.," al-Abhath (Beirut) 23 (1970),
1-127. The offprint, a substantial booklet, is often found as a
separate publication. This was an excellent survey and critique
of the existing literature. It is still useful today as a
reference, although it has been superseded on many
points.
- • Nicholas Lowick, "The Mint of
San‘â': A Historical Outline," Ch. 16 of
San'â': An Arabian Islamic City (ed. R.B. Serjeant
and R. Lewcock, London, 1983), 303-09.
- • Robert E. Darley-Doran,
"Examples of Islamic Coinage from Yemen," Yemen (ed. Werner
Daum; Innsbruck, 1987), 182-84, 201-03 (not in the German
edition). 21 exemplary coins, mostly gold; good
bibliography.
- • Stefan Nebehay, "Muslimische
Münzen aus dem Jemen," in Jemen. Im Land der Königin
von Saba (exhibition, Museum für Völkerkunde,
Vienna, 1989), 144-51.
-
- third/ninth century; Abbasid
governors
-
- • Album, Checklist,
55.
- • Muharram, A. A.,
"Danânîr islâmiyya min awâ'il al-'asr
al-'abbâsî bi'l-yaman," Dirâsât
Yamaniyya 3 (1979).
- • Ilisch, The Turath
Collection, 36-37. Identifies the earliest Abbasid dinars of
Yemen in their historical context.
-
- fourth/tenth century; Rassid
and Abbasid
-
- • Album, Checklist,
56.
- • S. Shamma, "A Hoard of Fourth
Century Dinars from Yemen," American Numismatic Society Museum
Notes 17 (1971), 235-39. MuÝawwaq dinars from Baysh,
Zabîd, and 'Adan with the names of Abbasid caliphs and
governors, dated 331 to 362 (942-73).
- • David W. Sorenson, "The History
of the Yemen in the Tenth Century," in Medieval Coins XXXI
(Alex G. Malloy Price List, 1995), 4-9: a large selection of suds
or sudaysi 1/6 dirham coins, excellent listing of the
varieties.
- • Naif A. al-Shara'an of SAMA,
Riyadh, is doing a master's thesis on the suds (letter Dec.
1995).
- • al-Hamdânî,
Kitâb al-Jawharatayn al-'Atõqatayn al-Mâ'i'atayn
min al-Safrâ' wa'l-Baydâ, ed. and tr. Christopher
Toll, Die Beiden Edelmetalle Gold und Silber (Uppsala,
1968). Rev. G. Lecomte, Arabica 17 (1970), 319-20.
Al-Hamdânî's father was mint-master in
San‘â'. This is one of a series of works on each of
the three kinds of property: land (K. al-Harth
wa'l-Hîla); animals (K. al-Ibil); and money
(K. al-Jawharatayn). Jawharatayn describes mining and
minting in tenth century Yemen, but with wider
importance.
- • D. M. Dunlop, "Sources of Gold
and Silver in Islam according to al-Hamdânî (10th
Century A.D.)," Studia Islamica 8 (1957), pp.
29-49.
- • H. al-Jâsir, "Kitâb
al-jawharatayn al-'atîqatayn," Majallat al-Majma'
al-'Ilmî al-'Arabî 26 (1961), 533-44.
-
- fifth/eleventh century;
Fatimid and Sulayhid
-
- • Album, Checklist,
56-57.
- • Sihâm Muhammad
al-Mahdî,"Dõnâr Fâtimî Nâdir duriba
fî Zabîd 'âm 447 h.," al-Mu'arrikh
al-Misrî 2 (July 1988), 63-66. Since the texts say that
Zabîd was in Najahid Sunni control, she believes this coin
struck in Egypt as a propaganda coin.
- • Lowick, Nicholas, "Some
Unpublished Dinars of the Sulayhids and Zuray'ids," Numismatic
Chronicle ser. 7, 4 (1964), 261-70.
- • Bates, Michael L. "Notes on Some
Isma'ili Coins from Yemen," American Numismatic Society Museum
Notes 18 (1972), 149-62. Some additions to Lowick's list, and
a general scheme for the entire series, mainly issued in Aden in
the 11th-12th centuries.
-
- sixth/twelfth century:
Isma`ili, Najahid, Mahdid, Ayyubid
-
- • Album, Checklist,
57-58.
- • Lowick, N. M., "Coins of the
Najâhids of Yemen: a Preliminary Investigation," Actes du
8ème Congrès International de Numismatique: New
York-Washington, Septembre 1973 Paris-Basle, 1976),
543-51.
- • Balog, Paul, The Coinage of
the Ayyubids (Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication,
no. 12). London, 1980. Coins issued in Yemen are on pages
283-305, varieties 927-1015. Album's popular coins has comments on
the Ayyubids.
-
- seventh/thirteenth century:
Ayyubid, Zaydi, Rasulid
-
- • Album, Checklist,
58-59.
- • Stern, S. M. "Some unrecognized
dirhams of the Zaidîs of the Yemen," Numismatic
Chronicle ser. 6, 9 (1949), 180-88. Much revised by Lowick's
article, NC 1983.
- • Lowick, N. M., "The
Mansûrî and the Mahdawî Dirham: Two Additions to
Sauvaire's 'Matèriaux'" Numismatic Chronicle
143 (1983), 121-38 (and in his Variorum volume Coinage and
History). The issues of the Rassid Imams in Sa‘da,
Dhafâr, and other places in northern Yemen, 601-704
(1204-1305).
-
- Rasulids
-
- • Heinrich Nützel,
Münzen der Rasuliden nebst einen abriss der geschichte
dieser jemenischen dynastie. Berlin, 1891. Also
Zeitschrift für Numismatik 18 (1892), 81-156. Reprint
with English translation on facing pages, Coins of the Rasulids
Comprising a Synopsis of the History of that Yemenite Dynasty
1891 Berlin translated by Dr. A. Kinzelbach augmented by the
description of a newly dicovered [sic] Rasulid dirham
hoard. Mainz: Donata Kinzelbach, 1987.
- • Album, Checklist, 58.
With a brief introduction and comments.
- • Mitchiner, World of
Islam, 228.
- • Venetia Porter, "The Rasulid
Sultan al-Malik al-Mansûr and the mint of Mabyan,"
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 1 (1990), 38-45. Of much
more general importance than one would think from the
title.
- • G. R. Smith, "The Yemenite
Settlement of Tha'bât: historical, numismatic, and
epigraphic notes," Arabian Studies 1 (1974), 119-34.
- • Ahmad al-Zayla'i, "Dirâhim
rasûliyya muzaffariyya nuqisha ‘alayhâ ism
al-khalîfa al Musta'sim bilâh ba‘d
wafâtihi: dirâsa fî maghzâhâ
al-siyâsî wa-tiraz sikkihâ" Yarmouk
Numismatics 5 (1993), 29-59.
- • Porter, Venetia, "A Recent
Acquisition of Coins of the Tahirid Sultans of the Yemen,"
Yarmuk Numismatics 7 (1995), 21-28. Twenty coins
originally acquired in Ta'izz.
- • Lachman, Samuel. "A Coin of the
Tahirids of the Yemen," Spink's Numismatic Circular, 94
(1986), 223.
-
- Zaydi and Ottoman Yemen,
general
-
- • Album, Checklist,
58-60.
- • Chester L. Krause and Clifford
Mishler, Standard Catalogue of World Coins. Iola, WI:
Krause Publications, annual editions. This is the reference for
dealers and collectors. It gives a good overview of modern Yemeni
coinage. It is now organized into century volumes, one each for
the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The latter is updated
annually to include new issues.
- • Mitchiner, World of
Islam, 229.
- • G. Hochstrasser, "Zur
Münztätigkeit in San'a/Jemen während der
osmanischen Zeit," Schweizer Münzblatter 29, no. 114
(August 1979).
- • Popp, V., G-R. Puin, and H.
Wilski, "Ottoman Coins of the Yemen," in A Festschrift
Presented to Ibrahim Artuk on the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary
of the Turkish Numismatic Society (Istanbul, 1988),
231-66.
- • Serjeant, R. B. The
Portuguese off the South Arabian Coast: Hadhrami Chronicles
(Oxford, 1963), Appendix III, pp. 138-54.
- • Dick Nauta, "Malhaz, an Ottoman
camp mint in the Yemen," Oriental Numismatic Society
Newsletter 140 (Spring 1994), 5-10.
- • Dick Nauta, "Ottoman copper
coins from al-Mokha in the Yemen," Oriental Numismatic Society
Newsletter 138 (Autumn 1993), 2-5.
- • Dick Nauta, "Ottoman copper
coins from Kawkaban and Sa'da in the Yemen," Oriental
Numismatic Society Newsletter 139 (Winter 1994),
5-9.
- • Dick Nauta, "Ottoman copper
coins from Zabid in the Yemen," Oriental Numismatic Society
Newsletter 137 (summer 1993), [10-14].
- • Dick Nauta, "Ottoman Copper
Coins Minted in San'a', the Yemen: Part I: The Thin, Earlier
Coins," ONS Newsletter 146 (Autumn 1995), 17-28
(Supplement). Includes important references for historical
bibliography.
- • Dick Nauta, "Ottoman Copper
Coins Minted in San'a', the Yemen: Part II: The thick, later
coins," ONS Newsletter 153 (Summer 1997), 6-12.
- • Lachman, Samuel, "The Gold Coins
of the Zaidi Imams of the 17th to 19th Centuries," Spink's
Numismatic Circular 96 (1988), 211-12.
-
- ninth/fifteenth
century
-
- • Lachman, Samuel, "The Use of
Mameluk Coins in the Zaydi Yemen in the late 9th/15th Century,"
Spink's Numismatic Circular 93 (1985), 330-331.
-
- tenth/sixteenth
century
-
- • Lachman, Samuel, "The
Numismatics of the Yemen of the 10th/16th Century, Parts 1-6,"
Spink's Numismatic Circular 100 (1992), 113-114, 147-48,
185-86, 223-24, 263-64, 300-02.
-
- eleventh/seventeenth
century
-
- • Lachman, Samuel, "The Period of
the Early Qasimid Imams of the Yemen, 1006-1054H/1597-1644,"
Spink's Numismatic Circular 96 (1988), 39-43.
- • Lachman, Samuel, "The Coins of
the Zaidi Imam al-Mutawakkil ‘ala allah Isma'il b. al-Qasim,
1054-1087 H/1644-1676, Parts I and II," Spink's Numismatic
Circular 97 (1989), 147-50, 183-185.
- • Lachman, Samuel, "The Zaidi Imam
al-Mahdi Ahmad b. al-Hasan, 1087-1092H/1676-1681," Spink's
Numismatic Circular 96 (1988), 143-146.
-
- twelfth/eighteenth
century
-
- • Lachman, Samuel, ""A
sughrâ' on a Gold Coin of the Zaidi Imam al-Mahdi
al-'Abbâs", Spink's Numismatic Circular 98, 10
(December 1990), 351. A coin of 1176 H., copying the Ottoman
altin or sequin, but with authentic inscriptions including the
title Amîr al-Mu'minîn.
-
- thirteenth/nineteenth
century
-
- • Lachman, Samuel, "The Coins of
the Zaidi Imams of the period 1224-1265 H/1809-1849," Spink's
Numismatic Circular 98 (1990), 1-7. coinage in Mocha, 1833:
[in the coffee-houses] "They pay only three or four
commassées [khumâsî] for their
refreshments. This small coin, and cowries, are the only currency
used in the bazaars for small transactions; but Spanish dollars
and German crowns are almost wholly used in larger ones; and
Persian rupees, and those of Bombay and Surat, and foreign gold,
are no strangers." Roberts, Embassy, 348.
- • Lachman, Samuel, "A Gold Coin of
the Zaidi Imam al-Mutawakkil al-Qasim b. al-Husayn," Spink's
Numismatic Circular 98 (1990), 84.
-
- fourteenth/twentieth
century
-
- • Mitchiner, World of Islam,
230-31 (Imams), 235-36 (Hadramawt), 238 (Ra's Bab al-Mandab,
Shaykh Sa'id).
- • Ilisch, The Turath
Collection, 73-74. On gold coins of the Imams.
- • Chester L. Krause and Clifford
Mishler, Standard Catalogue of World Coins. Iola, WI:
Krause Publications, annual editions.
-
-
