Catalog
Dinar - Rafi' ibn Harthama
| Issuer | Harthamid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 892 |
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| Composition | Gold |
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| Obverse description | The obverse field bears a multi-line Arabic inscription in Kufic script arranged in horizontal registers reading: 'bi'l-sana / lillah al-qudra wa'l-azama / wa minhu al-sa'ada wa'l-ni'ma / al-Mansur Rafi' ibn Harthama / wa'l-baha', attributing glory and majesty to God and proclaiming the authority of Rafi' ibn Harthama under his honorific al-Mansur. The obverse margin carries a Qur'anic citation from Surah 30 (al-Rum), verses 4–5, inscribed continuously around the circumference of the coin in the standard epigraphic tradition of Abbasid-era gold dinars. The legends are executed in the angular, unpointed early Kufic style typical of late ninth-century eastern Islamic minting. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Rafi' ibn Harthama governed Khurasan as a semi-autonomous strongman operating nominally under Abbasid authority, though by the late ninth century that deference had grown increasingly strained. His gold coinage is rare precisely because his political position was — he was deposed and killed in 896, ending his administration after roughly a decade of turbulent rule that included open conflict with the Saffarids.
The short window of issue and limited mint output make surviving dinars from his governorship genuinely scarce in the market.