Mardin is a beautiful town in south-eastern Turkey, set high up on a hill overlooking the Syrian desert spread out below. There has always been a very strong Christian presence there, with many monasteries in the surrounding country.

This second coinage of Najm al-Din Alpi is one of the most popular types in the Turkmen series of copper dirhams because of its artistic appeal. Its design includes both classical and Christian symbolism. The obverse, the classical side, shows two diademed male busts in profile facing each other, which appear to be a representation of the astrological sign Gemini showing Castor and Pollux.

This coin has a dot between the two faces, but on many others of the same type there is a five or six-pointed star. This may show it to have been struck in the year 549 H, which began on the first Wednesday of Muharram (18 March 1154) with Gemini in the ascendant.

Above these are Alpi’s laqab, Najm al-Din, and below his new title, malik diyarbakir (Ruler of Diyarbakir) followed by the tamgha (tribal mark) of the Artuq clan.

The reverse, which seems to be entirely Christian in character, is unmistakably copied from the Byzantine type used by several rulers which portrays the emperor standing robed and being crowned by the Virgin Mary.

It has, however, been suggested that the astrological significance of this coin lies in Gemini being the “day house”, or domicile, of the planet Mercury while the planet’s “night house” is Virgo. Thus the Virgin, Virgo, is crowning the emperor, Mercury. The legends on the reverse show Artuqid family pride by giving the ruler’s name, Abu’l-Muzaffar (“Father of Victory”) Alpi, and those of his father Timurtash, his grandfather Il-Ghazi, and his great-grandfather Artuq.