The Spanish era on coins of the Iberian Peninsula in the 12^th–13^th centuries

The Spanish Era (lat. Æra Hispanica), also known as: «era of Caesar», is the year numbering system commonly used in the states of the Iberian Peninsula from the 5^th century until the 15^th century, — including on gold coins made in a style imitating Arabic Kufic dinars and dirhams.

The start date of the Spanish era was 1 January 38 BC (which corresponds to the 716^th year after the founding of Rome, DCCXVI ab Urbe condita). Originally, the Spanish era was used throughout the Visigothic Kingdom and in some parts of North Africa.

In 19^th-century historiography (1808), it was stated: «On January 1, 38 BC, after the official pacification of all of Spain, Octavian Augustus issued a decree introducing the Spanish era, which was used to date time in Spain. The Spanish era was used in southern France and the Iberian Peninsula, although it did not have the same application or consistency in different Spanish kingdoms».

The Spanish era was familiar to Jews, Christians, and Moors on the Iberian Peninsula for use in civil documents.

Gradually, from the 12^th to the 15^th century, this era ceased to be used in various parts of the Iberian Peninsula, and was replaced by diplomats, church structures, and international contacts with the era “from the birth of Christ” (Anno Domini, A.D.), which we still use today. The official abandonment of the Spanish era took place:
   ▪ in Catalonia → 1180 A.D.;
   ▪ in Aragon → 1349/1350 A.D.;
   ▪ in Valencia → 1358 A.D.;
   ▪ in Castile → 1382/1383 A.D.;
   ▪ in Portugal → 1420/1422 A.D.;
   ▪ in Navarre → early 15^th century.

The year indicated in the Spanish era uses the word “ERA”, followed by a feminine ordinal number (if written in full, not in Roman numerals). In contrast to this method of recording, the A.D. (Anno Domini) years are accompanied by the word “ANNO” (“year”). In real life, year in the Spanish era could, for example, be written as follows: Era M.CCXLV, i.e. «Year of the Spanish era 1245^th». An example of recording the year within a single document using both “ANNO” and “ERA” can be found, for example, in source [2b] in the “Example” section (Anno 1137 & Era 1176).

In modern printed literature and online resources, the year according to the Spanish era is also indicated by adding the word «Safar» (or «Safard»).

To convert years from the Spanish era (ERA; Sp.E.) to the years of the Common Era (ANNO; A.D.) and vice versa, use the following formulae:

Following these conversion rules, coin [3] bears the year 1253 of the Spanish era (year 1215 of the Common Era); and coins [4] and [5] — have on them year of the Spanish era 1222 (i.e. 1184^th A.D.).

Before proceeding to a detailed analysis of a specific coin, I find it is necessary to explain why coins minted in Spain at that time bore inscriptions in Arabic script rather than Latin letters (as was the case in England, for example). The fact is that in the 12^th and 13^th centuries, the Iberian Peninsula had an established Islamic-type monetary system, as the peninsula had been under Islamic rule for many hundreds of years, and at the same time, active, large-scale trade continued with the lands of the Maghreb (the northwestern part of the African continent) — also, of course, inhabited by Muslims.

Christian rulers of the peninsula deliberately did not disrupt the well-established coinage system, as both merchants and ordinary people were accustomed to the previous (Arabic) coin, its appearance, and weight characteristics. In the 7^th century, when the Arabs conquered the Sassanid Empire, coins were also left largely unchanged in design, with only a few words or phrases in Arabic added, in order to maintain the trust of the population, particularly among the Arab governors of Tabaristan.

It should be noted that the similarity with the Muslim method of coin design was even evident in the way the year was written. The year on the coins was written, as with the Arabs, from the smallest to the largest order, i.e.: units → tens → hundreds → thousands (see below for a detailed analysis of the circular legend that contains the year).

Let us take a look, as an example, at the gold coin described in sources [1] and [3]:

This is a gold Morab (or, morabitino) coin made of 99% gold, it was minted in Castile. The date on the coin is given as 1253 in the Safard era (Spanish era), which, using the equations above, gives us 1215 A.D. The inscriptions on both sides of the coin are in Arabic, and only the name of the king — Enrique I of Castile (1204–1217) — is written in Latin: “hЄNRIC”. That coinage bears the date in which they were struck, not recorded for medieval Christian coinage, but normal for Islamic coinage almost since its inception.

The Christian motto is presented in the Arabic language and script, and it is also presented in a style that imitates the style and legends of the gold dinar: where the one starts with «In the name of Allah…», this coin says, «In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…». The traditional legend, «the imam Abd-Allah, Prince of the Believers, al-Abassi» is replaced by «The imam of the Christian Church, the Pope of Rome». Replacing «the Emir Abu Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn Sa'ad» is, of course, «the Emir of the Catholics, Alfonso ibn Sancho», with the same invocations to divine protection.

The morabitino of Toledo was first issued by the Enrique's father, Alfonso VIII of Castille, in the year 1173 A.D. It was intended to compensate for the disappearance of the Almoravid dinars once Murcia, the last bastion of the Almoravids on the Iberian Peninsula, was taken by the Almohads in the year 1170 A.D.

Alfonso VIII died in 1214 A.D., and the crown passed to his 10-year-old son, Enrique I of Castille. Berenguela, his eldest sister, became his guardian, but was forced to cede that responsibility to the powerful Lara family. Álvaro Nuñez de Lara had absolute custody of the king until Enrique died in an accident in 1217. Morabitinos were minted continuously during those 3 years. They continued to bear the name of Alfonso with only the year changing. The coin shown above is, so far, the only known example of a coin bearing the name of Enrique I (Henric). We can surmise that it was minted in the very brief period when he was under the guardianship of his sister Berenguela, and that the issue was interrupted after the Count of Lara was appointed the king's guardian.

An additional characteristic of the morabitino is the designation of the king as «al amir ibn Alfuns al thamin HENRIC», i.e. «the prince, son of Alfonso the 8^th, Henry». The citing of the royal ordinal («the eighth») is surprising for both Islamic and Christian coinage of that era. It will not appear again on a coin of Castile until the reign of Juan II, in the 15^th century.

Finally, let's examine the circular Arabic legend on the coin from sources [1] and [3] on the side that bears the name “HENRIC”:

From top to bottom, counter-clockwise: blue → «darb» (was struck); turquoise → «ghaza» (this); yellow → «al-dinar» (dinar); red → «bi Tulaytula» (in Toledo).

From bottom to top, counter-clockwise: red → «thaliatha» (three); yellow → «waw» (and); turquoise → «hamsin» (fifty); yellow → «waw» (and); blue → «mi'atiyn» (two hundred); yellow → «alph» (one thousand); red → «Era»; turquoise → «Safar».

Thus, the circular legend shown in the table above forms the phrase:
«Was struck this dinar in <the city of> Toledo <in the year> 3 and 50 and 200 <and> 1000 <of the> Era Safar».

SOURCES:

1. Posts on the telegram channel «Unusual world coins» (the coin; description of the coin and the Era).

2. Articles about the Spanish Era on Wikipedia in the following languages: a) Russian, b) English, c) Spanish.

3. Zeno: coin № 156778 from the category «West European Imitations».

4. Zeno: coin № 156790 from the category «West European Imitations».

5. Zeno: coin № 156780 from the category «West European Imitations».

This article was published on December 23^rd, 2025.