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Recent findings show that Sicilian coins are abundant in several hoards recovered on the Iberian Peninsula, dated to the 11th century. These Sicilian coins are Fāṭimid issues struck in the mint of Palermo when the island was no longer under direct Fāṭimid control but under the rule of the Kalbid dynasty. Most of these coins are half and quarter dirhams and quarter dinar fractions, even though the dirhams and dinars were the currency most used in Fāṭimid Empire. This paper analyzes the impact of this foreign currency on al-Andalus, its integration into the Andalusian monetary circulation and the intensity of this phenomenon, its chronology, the commercial relations between Sicily and Iberian Peninsula in the 11th century, and finally, the role of Sicily as a Mediterranean commercial centre.
