Catalog
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| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 698-750 |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم بـ [Mint] في سنة [Year] |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
The anonymous Umayyad dirham emerged directly from Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan's monetary reform of 696–698 CE, a deliberate rupture with the Sasanian-derived coinage that had circulated across the former Persian territories. The reform was explicitly ideological: figurative imagery was stripped away entirely, replaced with Quranic inscription, creating the first purely epigraphic Islamic silver coinage. Byzantine and Sasanian prototypes had dominated regional exchange for generations — their sudden demonetization was as much a political statement as an economic one.
Weight standardization across the caliphate's mints was enforced with unusual rigor for the period, though minor regional deviations in fineness are well documented.