Fals Balkh

Balkh — ancient Bactra, once capital of Bactria and a city Alexander the Great used as a base for his eastern campaigns — was one of the earliest mints in the Abbasid network to strike copper fulus following the dynasty's consolidation of power after 132 AH. Local copper coinage in this region operated under considerable administrative autonomy; provincial governors often controlled fals production independently of the central diwan, which is why Balkh issues from this decade show marked variation in weight and module across dies.