Catalog
Follis / Fals - Anonymous Facing bust type - Hims mint - Arab-Byzantine
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 685-692 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | A#3524 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek/Arabic |
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| Mintage | ND (685-692) - 65-72 AH - Hims mint |
| Additional information |
Produced in the turbulent decade before Abd al-Malik's sweeping monetary reform of 696–698 AD, these transitional issues reflect the Umayyad administration's early pragmatism: inheriting Byzantine provincial copper coinage wholesale and continuing production with minimal modification at existing mints. Hims — ancient Emesa — had been a functioning mint under Byzantine Syria and simply kept striking. The anonymous facing bust type sits in an awkward administrative middle ground, neither fully Byzantine nor distinctly Islamic.
Abd al-Malik's reform abolished figural imagery entirely, rendering this type obsolete almost overnight.