Item number: A215

Year: AD 1198-1250

Material: Gold

Size: 10.9 x 10.9 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 1.92 g

Provenance: Künker 2022

This coin is a gold tarì minted during the reign of Frederick II, King of Sicily.

The obverse of the coin features multiple concentric circles with inscriptions in Kufic script around the perimeter, encircling six small orbs at the centre. The reverse depicts a cross, accompanied by the inscription “IC-XC NI-KA”, where IC-XC is an abbreviation for Jesus Christ in Greek, and NI-KA translates to “victory” or “conquest”.

Kufic script:
Kufic script is the earliest Islamic style of calligraphy, originally used by early Muslims to transcribe the Quran. Named after the ancient Iraqi city of Kufa, this font spread across the Arabian Peninsula as Islam expanded.

Tarì:
The tarì was a small medieval coin minted approximately between the 10th and 13th centuries in Italy, Sicily, and Malta. It served as a significant denomination and unit of account in the medieval Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, cast in both gold and silver.

Frederick II (AD 1194-AD 1250), King of Sicily, also held titles such as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, and King of Italy. He ascended to the Sicilian throne in AD 1197 at the age of three. In AD 1212, he became King of the Romans, and was crowned Emperor in AD 1220. In addition to minting tarì, Frederick II emulated the Roman practice by introducing a new, more refined gold coin, the augustalis, which he vigorously promoted. The production of this coin continued until the 1260s, well after his death, and circulated widely across Italy and Sicily.

物件編號: A215

年代: 公元 1198-1250 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 10.9 x 10.9 x 1.4 mm

重量: 1.92 g

來源: 昆克 2022

此枚硬幣為西西里王國的國王腓特烈二世統治期間所鑄造發行的黃金塔里。 

金幣的正面描繪了多個同心的圓圈，周圍是模仿庫法體的銘文裝飾，同心圓的中央包圍了六個小圓球。硬幣背面繪製了一個十字，並鑄有「 IC-XC NI-KA」的字樣， IC-XC為希臘文中耶穌基督的縮寫， NI-KA則是勝利、征服的意思。 

庫法體:
庫法體是現存最早的伊斯蘭風格的手寫字母，早期穆斯林用此來記錄古蘭經。庫法體被認為在伊拉克的文化古城庫法開發因而得名。這種字體隨著伊斯蘭教的發展而傳播到整個阿拉伯半島。 

塔里:
塔里是一種小型的中世紀硬幣，大約公元10-13世紀在義大利、西西里島和馬耳他鑄造。它是中世紀那不勒斯和西西里王國的重要面額，也被用作記帳單位，以金和銀鑄造。 

腓特烈二世（公元1194年-公元1250年），西西里國王，也曾是神聖羅馬帝國皇帝、德國國王、及義大利國王等。公元1197年，年僅三歲的他繼承了父親的王位，成為西西里國王。公元1212年，他成為羅馬國王，並於公元1220年加冕為皇帝。除了鑄造「塔里」作為貨幣，腓特烈二世也仿效古羅馬的例子，發行了一種新型金幣「奧古斯塔爾（Augustale）」，並積極推廣這種更精緻的貨幣。這種金幣的鑄造一直持續到他去世後的公元1260年代，並在義大利及西西里島上廣泛流通。