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Fals - Anonymous
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 696-750 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Fals (1⁄60) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field bearing a multi-line Arabic Kufic inscription arranged in stacked lines within an inner circle. The legend reads the first part of the Shahada, affirming the oneness of Allah. The lettering is bold and angular, characteristic of early Umayyad epigraphy. The inscription is enclosed within a plain inner border, itself surrounded by a beaded outer circle. The flan is irregular and slightly ragged at the edges, consistent with hand-hammered copper coinage of the period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | لا اله الا الله و حده (Translation: There is no god but Allah) |
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| Additional information |
The Umayyad copper fals presents one of early Islamic numismatics' more complicated attribution problems. Unlike the reformed gold and silver coinage standardized under Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan after 696, copper remained largely unregulated by the central caliphate — local governors and municipal authorities struck it to their own weights and needs, which is precisely why so many fals survive without mint names or dating. The anonymity here is not damage or omission; it was the norm.
Album reference 194 places this among the broad category of post-reform transitional types that dropped Byzantine and Sasanian iconographic holdovers but hadn't yet settled into consistent epigraphic formats.