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The Timbuktu Gold Coin That Rewrote West African Trade
In 15th-century Timbuktu, the Songhai Empire's gold coinage wasn't just currency—it was a statement of sovereignty. This episode dives into the story of the mithqal, the gold dinar struck under Askia Muhammad and his successors, and how a single coin sparked a trade revolution across the Sahara. We trace the mithqal's journey from the Wangara goldfields to the markets of Cairo and Venice, explore the political message stamped into its Arabic inscriptions, and examine how Timbuktu's scholars debated the ethics of currency. Along the way, we meet the mysterious gold-weighers…
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