Catalog
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 697-702 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dinar (661-750) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Arabic |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Arabic |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
These early Umayyad dinars represent the direct outcome of the currency reform ordered by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, who in 77 AH (696–697 AD) abolished the Byzantine-derived figurative coinage that had briefly served the caliphate and replaced it with a purely epigraphic design — a radical break driven as much by theological principle as by a desire to assert independent Islamic monetary authority against Constantinople. The reform followed years of tension, including a reported Byzantine threat by Justinian II to stamp blasphemous inscriptions on gold coins being used in Arab-Byzantine trade.
The absence of a mint name on these early issues is deliberate, not an omission. Central production, almost certainly at Damascus, was part of projecting unified caliphal authority.