An Early Version of the Bulgarian Copper Dinars of the 13th Century

Abstract

The author considers copper coins of the so-called “archaic” type minted in Bulgar. According to the author, they were issued in the mid – late 1230s. The main feature of these coins is a kind of legend handwriting and great weight. The work is the Corpus – the publication of all copies of the “archaic” dinars known to date. In addition to weight and diameter, the article provides photo images of most of the coins presented in the table. Materials are presented from the funds of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, State Historical Museum (Moscow), ZENO database. Coins from the Bolgar State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve are first presented. After analyzing the weight histogram compiled from materials of weight 84 dinars, the author calculates the average weight – 6.01 g. Later, in the 1240s, copper coins with a weight of 3.1–3.3 g began to be issued in the Bulgar region. The article also provides rare versions of heavy-weight dinars minted, according to the author, immediately after the “archaic” type.

Keywords

• archaeology
• ulus of jochi
• bulgar region
• 13th century
• caliph al-nasir li-din allah
• coin circulation
• copper dinar
• metrology