Tarì

Tarì (from Arabic طري ṭarī, lit. 'fresh' or 'newly minted money')^[1] 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.^[2]

In the Islamic world, this type of coin was designated under the name ruba'i (رباعي), or quarter-dinar, as it weighed 1.05 g (0.034 ozt) of gold.^[1] The ruba'i had been minted by the Muslims in Sicily, unlike the Muslim rulers of North Africa, who preferred the larger dinar.^[3] It became highly popular as it was smaller and therefore more convenient than the large-sized 4.25 g (0.137 ozt) dinar.^[4]

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.^[1][4][3] When the Normans invaded Sicily in the 11th century, they issued tarì coins bearing legends in Arabic and Latin.^[5] Roger II of Sicily issued such coins, becoming the only Western ruler at that time to mint gold coins. Their composition was 16+1⁄3 carat gold (0.681 fineness) with some adjunction of silver and copper.^[3] The tarì were also produced by the Hohenstaufens and the early Angevins.^[6]

The tarì coins were generally minted from African gold obtained from Misrata or Tunis in North Africa in exchange for grain.^[6] Nowadays, the tari is a subunit (1⁄12) of the scudo, souvenir coins issued by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

• History of coins in Italy
• Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe
• Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture

• Blanchard, Ian. Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the Middle Ages. Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001. ISBN 978-3-515-07958-7 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 Europe and Islam
• Grierson, Philip. Medieval European Coinage. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-521-58231-5 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 The Norman Kingdom of Sicily

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