Nasrid Felus

The Nasrid Felus often featured inscriptions that doubled as political statements, naming the sultan and invoking Allah on a simple copper blank.

This made each coin a miniature billboard for Granada's independence amid a Spain fracturing under Christian reconquest. Struck in various mints across the emirate, these feluses varied in weight and quality, sometimes using recycled metal from older coins or household items. We know production ramped up in the 14th century, but exact figures are murky—records from that era are scarce.

As for myths, I've heard tales of feluses being cursed by defeated kings, but that's nonsense; they're just well-worn currency from a fading dynasty. One variation, the heavier type from the 15th century, shows the Nasrids' desperation as trade routes choked off.

Collectors prize the patina on these, a greenish hint of their age, though most I've seen are too battered for display cases.