Beautiful 701 Islamic Coin Umayyad Gold Dinar Abdel Malik ibn Marwan NGC AU
Description: A beautiful about uncirculated Umayyad gold dinar struck in 82 AH (701 AD) during the reign of the Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Abdel Malik ruled the Islamic world in the period 65-86 AH (685-705 AD). Abd al-Malik is the Umayyad Caliph responsible for the reformed coinage in the Islamic world. This beautiful coin clearly shows the year of minting being 82 AH. This is a nice coin with beautiful residual luster and great calligraphy. The coin is graded AU Details with the detail being Rev Graffiti. Although we do see the graffiti, it is not truly objectionable and when you look at the coin, it has a very pleasing appearance and is much better than the photos suggest. Please carefully review the photos presented as they are part and parcel of our description.
Date: Struck 82 AH or 701 AD.
Mint: The coin does not show the mint location.
Size and weight: This is a gold dinar, weighs ~4.28 grams, as noted on the slab, and is ~19 mm in diameter.
References: It is Album 125 and it is Wilkes No. 160.
Condition: The coin is graded AU Details by NGC and comes in a plastic slab so labelled. The detail being graffiti on the reverse. It is our opinion that the graffiti, although there, is not that offensive and the coin looks great and has a very pleasant appearance. This is a very nice coin with a well centered strike having beautiful Calligraphy. The coin has minimum wear to the higher points but the calligraphy is still beautiful and very readable, clear, and well defined. The coin is much better than the photos suggest. Please see photo for additional condition information.
Historic Perspective: The Muslim Arabs used existing gold and silver coinage in lands they conquered. At that time the nascent Islamic nation did not have a monetary system and did not strike neither gold nor silver coins, instead the conquering Arabs used the Byzantine monetary system already existing in Egypt for most of the gold coins and the Sassanian monetary system already existing in Iran for most silver coins with minor modifications. In 77 AH (699 AD) Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan the Umayyad caliph instituted a monetary system and began striking the first Islamic coins including the gold Dinar and silver dirham. The dinar weighed 4.25 grams, or one mithqal, of the highest purity gold possible. The dirham weighed about 2.85 of the purest possible silver composition, which would maintain a solid coin. At the time the center of power and the main gold coin mint was located in Dimishq (current day Damascus in Syria), while silver coins were minted throughout the Muslim empire.
