The fals (; ) was a medieval copper

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

first produced by the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

(661–750) beginning in the late 7th century. The name of the coin is derived from the ''

follis The follis (plural ''folles''; , ) was a type of coin in the Roman and Byzantine traditions. Roman coin The term ''follis'' is used for a large bronze Roman coin denomination introduced by Diocletian in about 294. The term "nummus" is now th ...

'', a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and later

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

copper coin. As common with most

Islamic coinage After the early Muslim conquests brought the nascent caliphate into contact with the numismatic traditions of the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire, whose lands they took over, the Islamic world developed its own, distinctive tradition of co ...

, the fals was aniconic and usually featured ornate

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...

on both sides. Various copper fals were produced until the 19th century. Their weight varied, from one gram to ten grams or more. The term is still used in modern spoken Arabic for money, but pronounced 'fils'. The plural form ''fulus'' فلوس is used in contemporary dialects of Arabic (e.g. Egyptian, Iraqi) as a general term for "money". The French term ''flouze'' is borrowed from Arabic. It is also absorbed into

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

through the word ''fulus'' .

In popular culture

* The Malay derivant ''fulus'' was used as basis for naming the fictional setting of Metrofulus in the 2006 Malaysian superhero film ''

Cicakman ''Cicak Man'' (pronounced , English language, English: ''Gecko-Man'') is a 2006 Malaysia, Malaysian Malay-language superhero film. Directed by KRU, KRU member Yusry Abdul Halim, it is the first Malaysian film of this genre, and features almos ...

''.

References

{{Islamic banking and finance Coins Coins of the medieval Islamic world Umayyad Caliphate Islamic banking Islamic banking and finance terminology

In popular culture

See also

References