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!
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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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.