Coin jewellery in the Middle East

Coin jewellery in the Middle East

by | Objects

Research project

Coin jewellery in the Middle East & North Africa

Published on July 29, 2024

One of the most common sights in jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia is the use of coins. This is a widespread custom throughout the region, and beyond. You’ll see coins decorating headbands and face veils, dangling from chains and temple ornaments and sitting in rings, brooches and bracelets. But what is the point of coins in jewellery? Can you pay with them? I’m explaining in this article, and excited to tell you more about my new research project, too!

Coin jewellery: origin

To our eyes, any monetary value coins in jewellery may have, is annulled by their treatment to make them decorative. They may be pierced and sewn onto clothing or strung onto metal wire; they might be hammered into dish-like shapes, soldered onto diverse items of jewellery or even decorated with glass, coral or semi-precious stones. Sometimes, they are so densely covered with enameling that you’ll need to flip one over to see that underneath that is an actual coin. So, what’s up with that?

The answer goes back far in time. Coins were an indication of an established silver (or gold) content in the times before hallmarks and assay offices existed. Those were only developed during the 19th century, so during the millennia before that, coins were things whose value was directly related to their silver content.

No matter if you drilled a hole through it or folded it double, a coin would still be worth its value in the weight of its silver content: archaeological excavations have shown coins to be simply chopped into pieces, which each continued to be valid methods of payment.

Because of their guaranteed silver content, there were two coins which were appreciated much more than others: the Maria Theresia Thaler from Austria, and the columnario or pillar dollar from Spain.

Find out more on the Maria Theresia Thaler here

See why the Pillar Dollar was the first international coin here

Coins retained this importance until a gold standard was established. From that moment on, a coin represented a certain amount of gold in the state’s treasury: the basic concept of money, as we know it today. But by that time, the practice of wearing coins in jewellery had well and truly taken hold, and that is why you’ll still see modern currency jingling from necklaces and veils.

Learn to read jewellery! Four colourful images of online courses.

Coin jewellery: the one thing to be aware of

Before we dive into the fun stuff, there is one myth I’d like to bust here. With all these wonderfully dated coins in jewellery, it is tempting to date an entire piece based on the age of the coins you find in it. After all, when a coin in a necklace is from, say, 1865, surely the piece itself is that old, too? Well….no. Big no-no. This is where you need to look extra closely at the piece itself.

With coins, the thing is that there are so many of them. Thousands of them still circulate. Old coins, and by that I mean coins from the 19th or early 20th century, are still available by the strand in some cases. They have been used as pendants for example, and when the original necklace was taken apart, they were simply gathered and put to use elsewhere.

So just picture it: I could take a few of those, string them into a necklace with a variety of beads, and I’d have a necklace that is made as recently as, well, tomorrow.

A coin alone does not date a piece.

Here are 5 tips to spot if a necklace has been restrung.

And here are 5 pointers on how to tell if jewellery has been altered in general – and when that matters.

A faceveil from Palestinian/Egyptian Bedouin, showing coins.

Coin jewellery: research possibilities

And now: the fun stuff! In addition to the pillar dollar and the MTT, many local and regional coins were worked into jewellery or costume ornaments. These are usually taken from the currency of the immediate region. And this is where it gets interesting! Here are just a few examples.

On the Arab Peninsula, local coins are found alongside Indian rupees. These rupees, in turn, are not found in jewellery any further west than Egypt. In the Maghreb, coins from nearby Spain, as well as France and Italy are common (the latter two because of colonization). Here, you may find Italian Victor Emmanuel coins, and France’s gold napoleons, but those are rarely seen east of Libya.

So, you see how the variety of coins worn as jewellery indicates the larger group which the wearer was in contact with. You could literally draw a map based on coinage found in jewellery, and see how jewellery allows us to trace geopolitical and economical spheres of influence. Jewellery also illustrates the visual effect of larger political landscapes: in those countries that formed part of the Ottoman empire for example, many Ottoman coins are found alongside more regional currencies.

Occasionally, coins also bear testimony to the existence of greater trade distances. One example is a pair of Moroccan fibulas, fitted with Dutch lion dollars. Or what to think of a Saudi-Arabian coin that ended up on a Turkmen guljaka or coat button, or Moroccan earrings with wartime US pennies? Each of these has a story to tell.

Coin jewellery: historic jewellery

The research possibilities that coins in jewellery have to offer, are huge. That’s why I have initiated a new project aimed at bringing this aspect of jewellery as a historic source to life. The result will be a comprehensive overview of coins used in jewellery and personal adornment, and of course I will be sharing regular updates on the blog. Interested in learning more? Drop me a line!

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The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

The Maria Theresia Thaler

The Maria Theresia Thaler

by | Objects

Coins in jewellery

The Maria Theresia Thaler in Middle Eastern jewellery

Published Feb 26, 2024

The Austrian Maria Theresia Thaler was to become the most widespread and well-known coin in Africa and Asia. It is the first international coin, and it was particularly popular in the Middle East and North Africa. What is the story behind this popular coin?

The Maria Theresia Thaler: its history

The Maria Theresia Thaler gets its name from Habsburg heiress Maria Theresia. Maria Theresia ascended to the throne of the Habsburg empire in Vienna aged 23, on the death of her father Charles VI. She was crowned Queen of Hungary in 1741, Queen of Bohemia in 1743, and bore the title of Empress from 1745, when her husband became Holy Roman Emperor Francis I.  From 1741 onwards, she had her own coins minted.

Maria Theresia ruled for forty years. She had sixteen children, one of which was the ill-fated Marie-Antoinette who would, much later, be beheaded in the French Revolution. But what she really managed to pull off was improving the economic situation of the empire. When she came to the throne, it had serious debts, and it took a determined CFO to get the empire afloat again.

From 1753, the Maria Theresia Thaler became increasingly popular; the empress officially announced the silver content of this and other coins to be minted in Bavaria and Austria, and set the exchange rates and the design standards in a treaty with Bavaria.

Being officially guaranteed and very hard to forge due to the intricacies of the design, the coin quickly became much sought after by traders and merchants. 

What does the name thaler mean?

The word thaler refers to the Joachimsthal (meaning Joachims’ Valley) in Bohemia, and it was here that silver was mined and minted into large silver coins. After the source of the silver, they were called thalers. Soon this German word became the generic term for basically any large silver coin and, as such, was quickly absorbed into various other languages. And you are very familiar with it: this word became ‘dollar’ in English.

Maria Theresia Thaler: enduring heritage

When Maria Theresia died in 1780, the coin was still in such high demand that it continued to be struck, forever bearing the date of 1780. These are called restrikes. It was accepted as official currency in Austria until 1858, when it continued to be in use as official trade coinage, but no longer as domestic currency. Since then, the coin has been in almost continuous production.

It played an important role in the coffee trade, was used in World Wars I and II to pay North-African allies and has acted as official currency innumerable times. Today, it is still used in the markets of Oman as a solid weight to measure silver objects. Actually, it is still produced by the Vienna Mint, and estimates have anywhere between 300 million and a staggering 800 million MTTs in existence today.

Maria Theresia Thaler: its many names

In European shorthand, the Maria Theresia Thaler is often abbreviated to MTT.

The MTT was the most popular coin in circulation in North Africa and the Middle East and went by many names: Abu Tayr (Father of Birds) referring to the imperial eagle; Abu Nuqta (Father of Dots) a reference to the number of pearls on the brooch of the empress; and Abu Rish (Father of Feathers) a name suggested by the eagle’s many tail feathers.

All these distinctive features were used to check the authenticity of the coin. Because, as I will show you later, this coin was imitated as a large scale. In purely monetary terms, the coin was referred to as Riyal Faransawi, (French Riyal) or Riyal Nimsawi, (Austrian Riyal).

Maria Theresia Thalers in jewellery from North Africa and the Middle East

The MTT is used in jewellery from the Maghreb all the way to Southeast Asia. You’ll find it in three ways:

1 – As complete coin. The coins are added to headdresses, necklaces, face veils and even rings. They may have bails added to them to facilitate stringing, or holes pierced into them to sew them firmly to a textile backing.

Usually, the visible side of the thaler is the reverse, depicting the eagle and coat of arms; since representations of human beings are forbidden in Islam, the coin is usually worn with the effigy of the empress on the underside.

2 – Fashioned into another shape. In this case, the coin has been altered, but can still be recognized. Examples are the crosses from Ethiopia, where the central element of the coin can still be seen in the centre (so the portrait of the empress or the coat of arms).

3 – Invisibly. Unbeknownst to most people, the thaler even has an invisible presence. Its high-grade silver content made it the material of choice for a lot of silver jewellery. Occasionally, the coin was fashioned into a pendant, on which traces of the original can still be seen, but the coins were more commonly melted down and reused completely.

Most thalers in jewellery are restrikes, all bearing the date of 1780. That does not mean they are actually from 1780: in fact, they may be relatively new.

Just like the pillar dollar, this coin was imitated very often, too. This was to serve more as a status symbol than as actual currency, and so you’ll find imitations in a varying range of success.

The Maria Theresia Thaler: the most popular coin in jewellery

You’ll see MTT’s used in jewellery very, very often! Sometimes, they have sat together for so long that it reflects in their wear patterns, and sometimes they are so new that the design is still crisp and fresh. Both old and new coins, as well as their imitations, reflect the importance of a steady source of silver for both economical purposes and jewellery: a tradition that has continued for 3 centuries!

This article is based on my book Desert Silver.

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References

[1] Although the pillar dollar was a coin of equal importance, many more books have been dedicated to the Maria Theresa Thaler. See for example Gervais, R. 1982. Pre-Colonial Currencies: A Note on the Maria Theresa Thaler, in: African Economic History No. 11 and Pond, S. 1941. The Maria Theresa Thaler. A famous Trade Coin, in: Bulletin of the Business Historical Society Vol. 15 No. 2. A very helpful book is Semple, C. 2005. A Silver Legend: the story of the Maria Theresa Thaler, Barzan Publishing.

[2] Vale describes how in Siwa oasis silver coins, obtained after selling a good harvest, were sent to the silversmiths to be melted down and turned into jewellery. See Vale 2011, p. 32.

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The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.

Spanish pillar dollar

Spanish pillar dollar

by | Objects

Coins in jewellery

The Spanish Pillar Dollar in Middle Eastern jewellery

Published Jan 10, 2024

Here is a coin that has been very popular in North Africa and the Middle East for centuries! And what is more, its name is still pronounced many times a day, and it captures popular imagination – even yours, although you may not realize it yet… But when it comes to jewellery from the Middle East & North Africa, this is one of the forgotten coins. Its obscurity is totally undeserved, however, so let’s look at the many lives of the pillar dollar!

Pillar dollar: what is it?

The pillar dollar is among the very first machine-tooled coins. Before that, coins were struck manually. The size and even the silver content of coins had varied greatly since Antiquity, but these new Spanish coins? They were something else! They always had the same shape, size, weight and decoration – they were reliable. [1]

The pillar dollar was produced from 1732 onwards. These coins get their name from the two pillars of Hercules on the reverse. These refer to the two rock formations in the Street of Gibraltar. You’ll see in the image above (and in the detailed photos below) that the pillars flank a crowned coat of arms: a not-so-subtle way of saying Spain dominated both the old and the new world.

And that new world is where these coins were produced. The denominations of 8, 4, 2, 1 and .50 Spanish reales (pronounced ‘ray-al-es’) were made of silver mined in Middle America. The coins were exported to Europe: just imagine those galleons, loaded with treasure chests brimming with actual money, sailing across the Atlantic….and you’ll get why all the classic piracy tales involve ‘pieces of eight’ – those are the 8 reales coins.

Pillar dollar and the world economy

That eight reales coin grew increasingly popular because its silver content was consistent, and it was widely available. It was, in other words, a stable coin that would not lose its value any time soon.

It was widely used in the Ottoman Empire, and so you will find it labeled with many names in Turkish:  it was variously referred to as kara kuruş, kebir kuruş, tamam kuruş, real kuruş and riyal.

And that is how it ends up being pronounced hundreds of times a day- today! Riyal is a derivate of its Spanish name, real. It remained the word of choice in Arabic to indicate official coins. [2]

Pillar dollars in jewellery from the Middle East & North Africa

Before banks, before plastic money and cryptocurrency, jewellery was the way to go for building up capital and emergency resources. Coins were worn on clothing and in jewellery: as savings, but certainly also to show off.⁠ The value of coins was, like jewellery itself, in their content of precious metal: even when it had been altered, its silver value would still be valuable.⁠ And the pillar dollar was a prized coin, precisely because of its silver content.

In Egypt, the coin was often worn as pendant on a necklace, like the coin shown above. This is an actual pillar dollar from 1817. In Egypt, the coin was called Abu Madfa, Father of Cannons: the Pillars of Hercules were interpreted as cannons.

Because of that interpretation, the coin soon became a much sought-after amulet as well: as cannons are made of iron, a material that jinn are afraid of, wearing a coin that showed two sizeable cannons would surely keep them at a distance!

A Spanish imitation pillar dollar in a silver necklace from southern Egypt.

Pillar dollars: imitation coins in jewellery

Because of this huge popularity, both as currency and as adornment, the pillar dollar was imitated at a large scale. That is more a matter of ‘keeping up appearances’ than actively engaging with counterfeit money – no one expected to be paid in fake pillar dollars, but wearing them sure looked good from a distance!

And for its function as an amulet, it really did not matter much if the coin was real: as long as those pillars were on it, it was all good. The gallery above shows a few of those imitations of the pillar dollar, in varying degrees of success: all of these were used in jewellery and adornment from the Middle East and North Africa.

The pillar dollar: a universal coin in jewellery

So you see how this coin once was of great importance for trade and commerce. But coins like these have many lives: as currency, as adornment, as amulet, and also as collected object. It’s never just one thing, and that makes these pieces so meaningful!⁠

This blog is based on my book Desert Silver.

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References

[1] Schienerl, P.W. 1981. Spanish/Mexican Dollars in Egypt: Currency – Raw material for Silversmiths – Ornament – Amulet, in: Ornament 5 (3).

[2] Some collectors have taken to call the pillar dollar riyal, too, instead of real: an interesting form of reversing this linguistic journey.

 

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Gold dinars at a glance

Gold dinars at a glance

by | Reviews

Un tresor en or: le dinar dans tous ses etats

Gold dinars from all sides

Published Dec 18, 2023

A small blog on a small book filled with treasure! The booklet ‘Un trésor en or – Le dinar dans tous ses États’, published by the Institut du Monde Arabe, is a lovely, and surprisingly complete, introduction into the field of gold dinars from the Islamic world. It’s primarily aimed at kids, but this slightly older kid enjoyed it, too!

Cover of the book Le dinar dans tous ses Etats

Gold dinars: the stories they hold

This tiny publication presents 428 gold dinars shown in the exhibition of the same name, held at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Spring 2023. In just 47 illustrated pages, it introduces the length and width of the world these coins represent. For example, did you know the word dinar is derived from the coin called denarius in Latin? I love these historical continuities.

The booklet explores where the gold for these coins came from, its preferred alloy, its shapes and inscriptions, but there is much more than that. Each spread in the book covers a different topic: Christian dinars, dinars with zodiac signs, calligraphy, names of sultans and caliphs…and let’s not forget dinars struck by women rulers.

It brings several useful introductory schematics, too: how to describe coins, a map with minting offices in the medieval Islamic world, and a very useful overview of all those dynasties and countries at a glance.

Gold dinars: a tiny treasure

Like I said, this is a very small booklet, but it covers much ground! Although it is primarily aimed at kids, I find it a very well executed example of introducing the span of stories a coin can share to a wider audience. It is accessible, abundantly illustrated, and informative: a tiny treasure in itself.

And that makes me look forward to the forthcoming publication of the coin collection in the Khalili Collections even more…!

More information on Un trésor en or – Le dinar dans tous ses États’

Title: Un trésor en or – Le dinar dans tous ses États’. 2023 47 pages, full colour, in French.

Published by the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA), Paris.

Available in the webshop of the IMA.

I purchased this booklet in the museum shop of the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.

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Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.