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!
Dirham - 'Abd-al-Rahman III al-Andalus
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba |
|---|---|
| Year | 929-948 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.9 g |
| 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 | Central field bearing three horizontal lines of Kufic Arabic inscription arranged concentrically within a plain inner circle, surrounded by a dotted border and an outer marginal legend band. The epigraphic content constitutes the Shahada and mint formula. The flan is irregular and slightly chipped, characteristic of hammered Andalusian dirhams of the Umayyad period. The overall style reflects the austere, purely calligraphic tradition of Umayyad coinage, devoid of figurative imagery. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | لا اله الا الله وحده لا شرك له بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم بالاندلس سنة ثلثين و ثلث مئة (Translation: There is no diety except (the one) God alone He has no equal In the name of God. This Dirham was struck in al-Andalus in the year thirty and three hundred) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
'Abd al-Rahman III proclaimed himself Caliph in 929 — a direct political challenge to both the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad and the Fatimid Caliphate rising in North Africa. The assumption of the caliphal title was not merely ceremonial; it required a coinage reform, as only a caliph had the legitimate authority to strike silver in his own name with full religious formula. These dirhams were the fiscal instrument of that declaration.
The Córdoba mint's silver at this period was exceptionally pure, sourced largely from Iberian mines under Umayyad control in the Sierra Morena.