CRUSADER STATES. Kingdom of Jerusalem. Dirham, 1251. Acre Mint. NGC AU-55.Variety with central cross pattee. Some striking weakness near the peripheries is noted, but much of the central legend is intact.<em>This is the second-oldest coin to bear a date on the Anno Domini calendar, struck in the year 1251 by Christian Crusaders in the city of Acre within the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It is stylistically imitative of Islamic dirham issues of the period, using a design and language familiar to the majority-Arab populace, but Christian motifs. Though Islamic coinage regularly featured dates on the Hijri calendar from the 7th century onward, Western (Julian) dates would not be habitually noted on coinage until the 16th century. However, in imitation of Islamic issues, this piece features the Christian date of 1251 written in Arabic script as "struck in Acre in the year one thousand two hundred, one and fifty, of the Incarnation of the Messiah," and an exhortation of the Trinity. Examples of this type dated 1252 and 1253 are also known. The type was brought about in accordance with Papal disapproval of the usage of Muslim inscriptions and dating on coinage of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but was relatively short-lived due to a lack of acceptance among the Muslim population and would soon be replaced with a type bearing less explicitly Christian legends. The only coinage known to bear an earlier date on the Anno Domini calendar is a Danish denier from 1234, which has its date noted in Latin numerals (MCCXXXIIII). The present example exhibits some strike weakness about the peripheries, but much of the central legends is intact.</em>
