The Tiflis Dirhams of MÃ ngke Khan (Numismatic Notes and Monographs)

The dirhams of Möngke Khān represent the first major emission of silver coinage in Georgia following the Mongol conquest roughly a generation previously. Struck in the Georgian capital city of Tiflis (modern Tbilisi) from the middle of AH 652 to perhaps as late as the first month of AH 660 (AD 1254–1261), these coins circulated widely throughout the South Caucasus and adjacent areas.

This coin type was the first in Georgia to provide a date formula with both the month and year of the Islamic calendar. The placement of the date formula in the four marginal segments of the reverse of the coin means that parts of it are often struck off the flan or effaced on individual specimens. The problem is compounded by poor Arabic calligraphy on many coins, leading to much confusion in the literature about the extant dates. However, using secondary design features such as the varying central obverse and reverse decorative elements, this book creates a systematic framework for dating these dirhams, identifying previously unpublished dates and varieties in the process.

The first in-depth monograph on this popular and historically important coin series, this book will be a valuable resource for both scholars and collectors interested in Georgian, Mongol, and Islamic numismatics.

An expert on Georgian numismatics, Kirk Bennett is the author of 'A Catalog of Georgian Coins'. The only comprehensive compendium of Georgian coin types, dates, and varieties in any Western European language, the Catalog has become a standard reference for coins of Georgia across all time periods. Bennett has also authored or co-authored articles on Georgian numismatics for the Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society. He is a retired diplomat who served overseas in Istanbul, Moscow, Vienna, Warsaw, and Kyiv. A graduate of Georgetown and Indiana Universities where he majored in Slavic Studies, he currently lives in Vienna, Virginia.