LARIN: COIN OF MALDIVES
1 larin, 1913: Sultanate of the Maldives
Ruler: Muhammad Shamsuddeen Iskander III (Dhivehi "ސުލްޠާން މުޙައްމަދު ޝަމްސުއްދީން") — Sultan of the Maldives (1893-1934).
Date on coin: AH 1331 (AH: Latin "Anno Hegirae" — "the year of the Hijra"; Islamic calendar) = 1913 (Gregorian calendar).
١ - لاري - ضرب في مالي - محلديب - ١٣٣١ - هـ: arabic inscriptions — "1 larin - struck in Malé /the capital of the Maldives/ - Mahdeeb /Arabic historical name of the Maldives/ - AH 1331".
سلطان شمس الدين محمد اسكندر: arabic inscriptions — "Sultan Muhammad Shams-ud-din Iskander".
Heaton mint (mint of Birmingham, Great Britain). — Although the corresponding inscription on the coin states that it was made in the Maldives.
The legend on modern Maldivian coins is indicated in English and Dhivehi, while in the Sultanate — in Arabic.
- Bronze: 13 mm - 0.96 g
- Reference price: 12$
COIN LARIN — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- SULTANATE OF THE MALDIVES (16th-20th centuries): larin
About the name of the coin larin: first of all, we must distinguish the following names of coins — larin (ancient silver wire substitute for money in the lands around the Arabian Sea, as well as Maldivian coin until the early 20th century), laari (modern Maldivian coin), lari (modern currency of Georgia).
Regarding the term larin (plural: lari), it refers to twisted or hook-shaped metal (usually silver) objects servinged as coins in areas around the Arabian Sea. The name comes from Lar, an ancient Persian city that would have been the first to produce larin. The city, in turn, was originally called Lar after the person who had first established the city. Lar is the name of one of Shahnameh's (national epic of the Iranian peoples) famous heroes.
