Ashrafī is the term for a gold coin that was first minted in Mamlūk Egypt in 916/1510 and was probably named after the sultan al-Ashraf Barsbāy (r. 825-41/1422-38). It weighed about 3.45 grams and was modelled after the Venetian or Florentine ducat ( zecchino and fiorino ) in standard and fineness. Through trade movements, the ashrafī first travelled to eastern Anatolia, northern Iraq, and northern Syria, which had close relations with the Mamlūks, and then went eastward. The coin was circulating in Iran before Shāh Ismāʿīl (