Tarì — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Currency}} [[File:Roger II tari gold coin Palermo with Arabic inscriptions.jpg|thumb|Norman tarì of Roger II of Sicily, with Arabic inscriptions, minted in Palermo. Now in the British Museum.]] [[File:Caliph Al Mustansir Sicilian coin.jpg|thumb|A pre-Norman Sicilian ruba'i/tarì in the name of Caliph Al-Mustansir. British Museum.]] [[File:Caliph Al Hakim Sicily 1005.jpg|thumb|A pre-Norman Sicilian ruba'i/tarì in the name of Caliph Al-Hakim, 1005. British Museum.]] '''Tarì''' (from Arabic {{lang|ar|طري}} {{lang|ar-Latn|ṭarī}}, {{lit|fresh|newly minted money}})<ref name="auto2">Cardini, p. 26</ref> was the Christian designation of a type of gold coin of Islamic origin minted in Sicily, Malta and Southern Italy from about 913 to the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deamoneta.com/auctions/search/389?q=kufic|title = ACR Numismatic Auction 19 (Page: 1) - en}}</ref>

==History== {{see also|History of coins in Italy}}

In the Islamic world, this type of coin was designated under the name {{lang|ar-Latn|ruba'i}} ({{lang|ar|رباعي}}), or quarter-dinar, as it weighed {{cvt|1.05|g|ozt}} of gold.<ref name="auto2"/> The ruba'i had been minted by the Muslims in Sicily, unlike the Muslim rulers of North Africa, who preferred the larger dinar.<ref name="auto">Matthew, p. 240</ref> It became highly popular as it was smaller and therefore more convenient than the large-sized {{cvt|4.25|g|ozt}} dinar.<ref name="auto1">Grierson, p. 3</ref>

The tarì were so widespread that imitations were made in Southern Italy (Amalfi and Salerno) from the mid-tenth century, which only used illegible "pseudo-Kufic" imitations of Arabic.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/> When the Normans invaded Sicily in the 11th century, they issued tarì coins bearing legends in Arabic and Latin.<ref>British Museum, Islamic Art room</ref> Roger II of Sicily issued such coins, becoming the only Western ruler at that time to mint gold coins. Their composition was {{frac|16|1|3}} carat gold (0.681 fineness) with some adjunction of silver and copper.<ref name="auto"/> The tarì were also produced by the Hohenstaufens and the early Angevins.<ref name="auto3">Blanchard, p. 196</ref>

The tarì coins were generally minted from African gold obtained from Misrata or Tunis in North Africa in exchange for grain.<ref name="auto3"/> Nowadays, the tari is a subunit ({{frac|1|12}}) of the scudo, souvenir coins issued by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist|2}}

=== Works cited === *Blanchard, Ian. ''Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the Middle Ages''. Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001. {{ISBN|978-3-515-07958-7}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zo2UVs_Sr68C&pg=PA196&dq=tari+coins Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the Middle Ages: Asiatic supremacy, 425-1125] *Cardini, Franco. ''Europe and Islam''. Blackwell Publishing, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-631-22637-6}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=pePPvGkGZDQC&pg=PA26&dq=kharruba+coin&lr= Europe and Islam] *Grierson, Philip. ''Medieval European Coinage''. Cambridge University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-521-58231-5}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=jgSNmsXG1jwC&pg=PA63&dq=kharruba+coin#PPA3,M1 Medieval European Coinage: Volume 14, South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia: With a Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge] *Matthew, Donald, ''The Norman kingdom of Sicily'' Cambridge University Press, 1992 {{ISBN|978-0-521-26911-7}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=CQfub3l_ejkC&pg=PA240&dq=Tar%C3%AC+Arabic#PPA240,M1 The Norman Kingdom of Sicily]

==External links== {{Commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tari}} Category:Numismatics Category:Coins of Italy Category:Obsolete Italian currencies Category:Coins of the medieval Islamic world Category:Gold coins