RIYADH: “This whole exhibition is about showing the power of Islamic coins and explaining the message that they bring to society,” says Dr. Alain Baron, founder of Numismatica Genevensis SA. “They are the most complete source of information in history, as you can have, on some coins, the names of viziers, personalities, and historical figures that would never be known if it were not for the coins.”
Baron is talking to Arab News about “Minted Narratives: Saudi Arabia’s Legacy in Coins,” an exhibition running at Riyadh’s National Museum until Dec. 16.
Baron co-curated the exhibition with Dr. Naif Al-Sharaan, an expert in Islamic numismatic history. Many of the pieces on display come from Baron’s extensive personal collection, alongside selections from the Ministry of Culture’s holdings.
Part of the show's 'Treasures and Coins of Saudi Arabia' section. (Supplied)
“This exhibition is very important because it (features) the largest collection of coins ever struck on Saudi ground — coins struck in Makkah and Madinah that have been collected in Europe and America for decades,” Baron explains. “And this is the first time that these coins have been unveiled to the public on this scale.”
The show traces the evolution of coins from pre-Islamic times to the modern Saudi riyal, highlighting currency’s role in documenting artistic, economic, and political transformations. It includes scenography designed by Studio Ghaith&Jad and Farah Fayyad, with contributions from Al-Sharaan, and blends artistic and architectural elements to reflect different historical periods.
“When we came up with the title ‘Minted Narratives,’ we realized we wouldn’t be displaying everything in chronological order — but dividing it into different stories,” Jad Melki, of Studio Ghaith&Jad tells Arab News.
An example from the show's 'Women in Coins' section. (Supplied)
“Now we (barely) use coins anymore, so somehow when we look at these as historical objects and put them in such a contemporary space that we were trying to create, you start to focus more on what the coin is telling you,” he continues. “What is the narrative behind it? What was minted at that time? And how did people move these coins from one place to the other? It maps out an entire system of economies and cultures that are being minted on these coins, whether it is cultural emblems or different faces, or different typographies on them.”
The exhibition contains seven sections. It begins with “Pre-Islamic Coins,” highlighting symbols and meanings related to trade and authority. It is followed by “The Birth of Islamic Coins and Coins in the Islamic Dynasties,” which illustrates the unity and diversity of Islamic civilization over the centuries.
“One thing that we really wanted to emphasize in the scenography is to have those different experiences because we have a shift in narratives,” Melki said, sharing that the first section’s aesthetic is very “somber” with dark lighting and earthier tones, while the birth of the Islamic civilization is a brightly-lit space, suggesting the enlightenment of the time.
The show's 'The Birth of Islamic Coins and Coins in the Islamic Dynasties' section. (Supplied)
The section “Women in Coins” showcases the presence of women in numismatics. “A lot of women’s names have been mentioned on coins,” says Baron. “I was relatively ignorant about that. I started to dig into the topic and found that lots of queens in Arab culture had been mentioned on coins, which obviously underlines their importance, and that brought me to Zubaidah (bint Ja’far) — one of the key figures in (Islam).” (Queen Zubaidah significantly financed Darb Zubayda, a pilgrimage route that offered those performing Hajj an easier journey to Makkah.)
“Treasures and Coins of Saudi Arabia,” meanwhile, tells the story of the Kingdom’s unification, and the building of the modern state. Melki describes this as “the most important section” of the exhibition.
“There we wanted to create the typography of Makkah and to highlight that these coins were minted there, or in Madinah,” he says. “So there are different elements that reference geography or architecture.”
“(Coins) are an incredible source of knowledge. The world should know that cities like Makkah and Madinah had a rich history,” says Baron. “Qur’ans and artworks from this period have almost all disappeared, or are awfully rare. So what you see here, basically, are the last remaining witnesses of the earliest stages of the history of Islam.”
