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Abstract The aim of the work is to identify explanations for the lengthy circulation of Safavid coins bearing the central inscription, “ʿAli is the friend of God ( ʿAli vali Allāh ),” from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Studying the coins from the period and the hoards in which they were found, alongside historical narratives, ethnographic information, and religious texts, sheds light on their meaning and reception in their Shiʿi environment. The special attitude towards these coins accounts for the widespread imitation of these coins, which came to dominate Iranian markets during this period, as predicted by Gresham’s law of “bad money.”
Alexander V. Akopyan (Wed,) studied this question.