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Gold dinar
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Gold dinar
The gold dinar (Arabic: ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهب) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (4.25 grams or 0.137 troy ounces).
The word dinar comes from the Latin word denarius, which was a silver coin. The name "dinar" is also used for Sasanid, Kushan, and Kidarite gold coins, though it is not known what the contemporary name was.
The first dinars were issued by the Umayyad Caliphate. Under the dynasties that followed the use of the dinar spread from Islamic Spain to Central Asia.
Although there was a dictum that the Byzantine solidus was not to be used outside of the Byzantine Empire,[citation needed] some of these coins became involved in distant trade; those then did not get re-minted by the imperial mints, and quickly became worn. Towards the end of the 7th century CE, Arabic copies of solidi – dinars issued by the caliph Abd al-Malik (685–705 CE), who had access to supplies of gold from the upper Nile – began to circulate in areas outside of the Byzantine empire. These corresponded in weight to only 20 carats (4.0 g) rather than the 24 carats of a recently minted solidus, but matched with the weight of the worn solidi that were circulating in those areas at the time. The two coins circulated together in these areas for a time.
The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver Dirhams of the Sassanian ruler Yazdegerd III, struck during the Caliphate of Uthman. These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading "in the Name of Allah". The subsequent series was issued using types based on drachmas of Khosrow II, whose coins probably represented a significant proportion of the currency in circulation.
In parallel with the later Khosrau-type Arab-Sassanian coins, first issued under the Well-Guided Caliphs of Islam, a more extensive series was struck with Khosrau's name replaced by that of the local Arab governor or, in two cases, that of the Caliph. Historical evidence makes it clear that most of these coins bear Hijra dates. The earliest Muslim copper coins are anonymous and undated but a series exists which may have been issued during the Caliphates of Uthman or Ali. These are crude copies of Byzantine 12-nummus pieces of Heraclius from Alexandria.
By the year 695 CE (AH 75) Abd al-Malik had decided on changes to the coinage. A scattering of patterned pieces in silver exist from this date, based on Sassanian prototypes but with distinctive Arabic reverses. This experiment, which maintained the Sassanian weight standard of 3.5–4.0 grams was not proceeded with, and in AH 79 (698 CE) a completely new type of silver coin was struck at 14 mints to a new nominal weight of 2.97 grams. Unlike the contemporary gold coinage, this figure does not seem to have been achieved in practice. The average weight of sixty undamaged specimens of AH 79–84 (698–704 CE) is only 2.71 grams, a figure very close to that for a unique coin of (AH 79) 698 struck with no mint name (as was the standard procedure for the gold dinars produced in Damascus). These new coins which bore the name of 'dirham', established the style of the Arab-Sassanian predecessors at 25 to 28 mm in diameter. Their design is composed of Arabic inscriptions surrounded by circles and annulets.
On each side there is a three- or four-line legend with a single circular inscription. Outside this are three line circles with, at first, five annulets surrounding them. The side normally taken as the obverse has as its central legend the Kalima or shahada: "There is no god except God alone, there is no partner with Him." Around it is the mint and date formula reading "In the Name of God: this Dirham was struck in [mint name e.g. Damascus] the year [e.g. 698, AH 79]". The reverse has a four line central inscription taken from the Surah 112 of the Quran; "Qul hu Allahu Ahad, Allahu-Samad, Lam yalid wa lam yulad wa lam yakul-lahu kufu-an ahad"'. The marginal legend states: "Muhammad is the Messenger of God, he was sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over every other religion, averse though the idolaters may be" (Quran 9:33).
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Gold dinar
The gold dinar (Arabic: ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهب) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (4.25 grams or 0.137 troy ounces).
The word dinar comes from the Latin word denarius, which was a silver coin. The name "dinar" is also used for Sasanid, Kushan, and Kidarite gold coins, though it is not known what the contemporary name was.
The first dinars were issued by the Umayyad Caliphate. Under the dynasties that followed the use of the dinar spread from Islamic Spain to Central Asia.
Although there was a dictum that the Byzantine solidus was not to be used outside of the Byzantine Empire,[citation needed] some of these coins became involved in distant trade; those then did not get re-minted by the imperial mints, and quickly became worn. Towards the end of the 7th century CE, Arabic copies of solidi – dinars issued by the caliph Abd al-Malik (685–705 CE), who had access to supplies of gold from the upper Nile – began to circulate in areas outside of the Byzantine empire. These corresponded in weight to only 20 carats (4.0 g) rather than the 24 carats of a recently minted solidus, but matched with the weight of the worn solidi that were circulating in those areas at the time. The two coins circulated together in these areas for a time.
The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver Dirhams of the Sassanian ruler Yazdegerd III, struck during the Caliphate of Uthman. These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading "in the Name of Allah". The subsequent series was issued using types based on drachmas of Khosrow II, whose coins probably represented a significant proportion of the currency in circulation.
In parallel with the later Khosrau-type Arab-Sassanian coins, first issued under the Well-Guided Caliphs of Islam, a more extensive series was struck with Khosrau's name replaced by that of the local Arab governor or, in two cases, that of the Caliph. Historical evidence makes it clear that most of these coins bear Hijra dates. The earliest Muslim copper coins are anonymous and undated but a series exists which may have been issued during the Caliphates of Uthman or Ali. These are crude copies of Byzantine 12-nummus pieces of Heraclius from Alexandria.
By the year 695 CE (AH 75) Abd al-Malik had decided on changes to the coinage. A scattering of patterned pieces in silver exist from this date, based on Sassanian prototypes but with distinctive Arabic reverses. This experiment, which maintained the Sassanian weight standard of 3.5–4.0 grams was not proceeded with, and in AH 79 (698 CE) a completely new type of silver coin was struck at 14 mints to a new nominal weight of 2.97 grams. Unlike the contemporary gold coinage, this figure does not seem to have been achieved in practice. The average weight of sixty undamaged specimens of AH 79–84 (698–704 CE) is only 2.71 grams, a figure very close to that for a unique coin of (AH 79) 698 struck with no mint name (as was the standard procedure for the gold dinars produced in Damascus). These new coins which bore the name of 'dirham', established the style of the Arab-Sassanian predecessors at 25 to 28 mm in diameter. Their design is composed of Arabic inscriptions surrounded by circles and annulets.
On each side there is a three- or four-line legend with a single circular inscription. Outside this are three line circles with, at first, five annulets surrounding them. The side normally taken as the obverse has as its central legend the Kalima or shahada: "There is no god except God alone, there is no partner with Him." Around it is the mint and date formula reading "In the Name of God: this Dirham was struck in [mint name e.g. Damascus] the year [e.g. 698, AH 79]". The reverse has a four line central inscription taken from the Surah 112 of the Quran; "Qul hu Allahu Ahad, Allahu-Samad, Lam yalid wa lam yulad wa lam yakul-lahu kufu-an ahad"'. The marginal legend states: "Muhammad is the Messenger of God, he was sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over every other religion, averse though the idolaters may be" (Quran 9:33).
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