Islamic Coin Umayyad Silver Dirham Hisham ibn Abdel Malik Al-Wasit 125 AH VF++

Description: A beautiful very fine or much better Umayyad silver dirham struck in 125 AH (743 AD) during the reign of the Caliph Hisham son of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Hisham ruled the Islamic world in the period 105-125 AH (724-743 AD). Hisham's father Abd al-Malik is the Umayyad Caliph responsible for the reformed coinage in the Islamic world. This beautiful coin clearly shows the mint location being al-Wasit and the year of minting being 125 AH. This is a nice coin that is lightly toned. The coin has a pleasing appearance with clear calligraphy, a very nice coin which is much better than the photos suggest. Please carefully review the scan as it is part and parcel of our description.

Date: Struck 125 AH or 743 AD.

Mint: The coin clearly shows mint location being Al-Wasit Iraq.

Size and weight: This is a silver dirham, weighs ~2.9 grams and is ~24.5 mm in diameter.

References: It is Album 137, is listed in Lane Poole Catalogue of the Collection of Arabic Coins Preserved in the Khedivial Library in Cairo Egypt as #231-236, and is Wilkes 297.

Condition: I would grade this coin as a good very fine or much better with a good and well centered strike having beautiful Calligraphy. The coin is lightly toned and has a very pleasing appearance. The coin is much better than the photos suggest. The coin has a wear commensurate with its age and circulated state. It does have some minor losses along the edge most pronounced is at 8:00 o'clock in the second photo (the obverse) which is the same as the spot at 4:00 o'clock on the third photo (the reverse). The coin has some scratches and bag marks. The coin is problem free and looks 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.