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Semissis / ½ Dinar - Al-Walid I ibn 'Abd al-Malik / Suleiman ibn 'Abd al-Malik
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 705-717 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | Blundered Latin legend arranged in two registers: a circular peripheral inscription surrounding a central legend reading SIMIΛIS (with all S-forms except the first in the central legend struck retrograde). The legends represent a corrupt rendering of the Islamic profession of faith in Latin: non est Deus nisi unus cui non est alius similis ('There is no God but the One to whom there is no other similar'). The field is plain gold with no figural imagery, consistent with Umayyad aniconic coinage policy. The flan is irregularly shaped, characteristic of hammered production. Letter forms are debased imitations of Byzantine epigraphic style. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central device depicting a transformed cross on three steps, a motif directly derived from the Byzantine solidus reverse type but here rendered in a debased, schematic manner consistent with Umayyad imitative coinage. Surrounding the central device is a blundered Latin circular legend reading (NN) ЄS σS NISV σSCVI N S A, with all S-forms struck retrograde. The inscription represents a corrupt version of the Islamic formula non est Deus nisi unus Deus cui non Socius Alius ('There is no God but the one God, to whom there is no associate'). The overall composition closely imitates late Byzantine tremissis and semissis types while substituting Quranic content for Christian iconographic meaning. The flan is irregular and the strike slightly off-center, typical of hammered Umayyad transitional gold. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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