Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 1961. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $3100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SPAIN, Castile. Alfonso VIII. 1158-1214. AV Dobla (Mancus) (3.83 gm). Toledo mint. Dated Safar era 1223 (1185 AD). Pseudo-Kufic legend with cross above and ALF below, marginal legend "Struck at Toledo in 1222, Safar era" / Five line legend with star below. C&C 998; Friedberg 101. EF, light coppery toning. ($3000)

The gold coins struck by the early Spanish kings were intended to replace the Almoravid dinars found in wide circulation in the region. The extensive gold issues of Alfonso VIII of Castile were known as Moribitini or Alfonsini or dobla, elsewhere termed the mancus. Alfonso still reigned over a large Muslim population, and the types were acceptable to the merchant classes that dealt with both Muslim and Christians. Although the legends are in Arabic, the sentiments expressed are Christian, and the dates are given not in Christian AD years, but in the local Safar era, beginning in 38 BC.