Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Amiri Dinar - al-Muqtadir
| Issuer | Abbasid Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 908-932 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Gold |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse of this hammered gold dinar presents multiple horizontal registers of Kufic Arabic script within a plain inner circle, containing the name and titles of Caliph al-Muqtadir Billah alongside the Muhammadan invocation. A circular marginal legend in Kufic script borders the outer ring, completing the religious and dynastic proclamation. The script is finely executed in the angular Kufic style characteristic of Abbasid gold coinage of the early fourth century AH. No figurative motifs are present, consistent with the aniconic numismatic tradition of the Abbasid court. The overall fabric is typical of hammered dinars of this period, showing slight irregularity at the flan edges. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (908-932) - 295-320 AH |
| Additional information |
Al-Muqtadir came to the throne at thirteen years old following the brief, murdered reign of al-Muktafi, and his twenty-four years as caliph were marked by catastrophic fiscal mismanagement — treasury reserves accumulated under previous caliphs were exhausted within years, partly through court extravagance and partly through the costs of suppressing repeated military rebellions. He was deposed twice, restored twice, and finally killed by his own troops in 932. Dinars issued under his name span the full arc of Abbasid decline from solvent empire to hollow institution.
The light weight of this piece — well below the classic 4.25g mithqal standard — reflects the chronic bullion shortages and weight manipulations documented across his reign's later issues.