Document Type : .

Author

• Jamile yousefi

Assistant of Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The dinar was the primary stable and valuable currency of the Seljuk Empire. As silver supplies declined, the sultans relied on revenues from conquests and taxes to mint dinars. At their height, they maintained monetary stability by enforcing coinage standards and controlling the gold supply. However, diminishing reserves, the substitution of dinars with copper coins, and the resulting economic impacts triggered financial crises.This study examines how the replacement of gold dinars with copper coins led to monetary instability inflation, and economic decline. Limited access to silver, the end of territorial expansion, hoarding of gold by elites, and flawed minting policies—which removed high-value coins from circulation—drained the empire's gold reserves. This resulted in debased copper coinage, increased production of low-quality coins, and volatile exchange rates, all of which fueled inflation and undermined financial stability.



Drawing on historical sources, numismatic evidence, and economic theories such as Gresham’s Law and the Quantity Theory of Money, this article analyzes the crisis. The findings reveal that both internal factors (such as mismanagement of coinage and elite overexpenditure) and external pressures (like declining silver resources and trade imbalances) led to the monetary collapse. These forces drove the economy toward barter and contributed to the empire’s decline.

Keywords

• Seljuks"
• Economy"
• Dinar"
• Copper coins"
• "
• Monetary crisis"

Main Subjects

• Iranian economy in the Islamic period