Before the Italian republics of Genoa, Venice and Florence issued their own gold coins in 13th century, Islamic gold coins were by far the most used in the Mediterranean. But how did these coins appear from the Sahara to Spain?
How to Build an Empire
Imagine the Sahara desert as a big sea, closed in between large barriers (the mountains of Atlas and Cabilia) and there are only two possible ways to cross it in order to reach the Mediterranean and the closest European land: Spain. Until Portuguese explorations, there was no technology to circumnavigate Africa. Still today, going from Marrakech to the desert requires crossing a valley at 2800+ metres and the route is probably the same as that which would be travelled by merchants in the 10th century.
The “seaport” where you would be able to prepare for the crossing of the mountains, and where you can find water, food and animals, is Sijilmessa. From here you can reach Marrakech, Fez, and ultimately Europe. So whoever controlled Sijilmessa and the crossing points of the Atlas would have the power to set up an empire, because very important commodities were traded: gold and slaves.
Moving Money
The Almoravids, a group of religious reformers who practiced a simple and fundamentalist version of the Islam, conquered Sijilmessa, established such an empire, and struck their own gold coins, long before the Italian republics did the same.
The main characteristic of Almoravid coins is that they were struck all around the Empire: in cities like Seville, Valencia, Murcia, Almería, Algeciras, Granada, Sijilmessa, Fez and Marrakech just to name a few. Before the Almoravid control, almost all coins from the area were minted in Al Andalus in Cordoba. With the trade of gold and slaves across the empire, Islamic gold coins appeared from the Sahara to Spain.
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