Mamlūk Minting Techniques: The Manufacture of Dirham Flans, 1250–1412

Abstract

There are no surviving mint manuals from the Mamlūk Sultanate, as there are for the preceding
Ayyubid period; thus, knowledge about mint techniques must be derived mainly from the
coins themselves. Drawing primarily upon Mamlūk dirhams preserved in the Israel Museum
collection, the methods of flan production utilized are examined. This examination reveals that
at least three separate methods of flan preparation were in use during the first 160 years of the
sultanate, often at the same time.