708 Islamic Coin Umayyad Gold Dinar al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik 89AH ANACS AU 55
Description: A beautiful about uncirculated Umayyad Gold Dinar struck in 89 AH (708 AD) during the reign of the Caliph al-Walid Ibn Abd al-Malik. Al-Walid I ruled the Islamic world in the period 86-96 AH (705-715 AD). His father Abd al-Malik is the Umayyad Caliph responsible for the reformed coinage in the Islamic world. Please carefully review the scan as it is part and parcel of our description.
Date: Struck 89 AH or 708 AD.
Mint: Not mentioned on the coin but known to have been minted in Dimishq.
Size and weight: This is a gold dinar, should weigh ~4.25 grams and is ~19 mm in diameter. References: It is Album 127, Wilkes 167, Al- Ush 289-295, and is listed in Lane Poole Catalogue of the Collection of Arabic Coins Preserved in the Khedivial Library in Cairo Egypt as number 13.
Condition: The coin is graded as AU 55 (About Uncirculated) by ANACS and comes in a plastic holder so labeled. The coin is beautiful and shows minimum wear and has residual luster. It is problem free and looks great with nice eye appeal. The coin has a well centered strike and beautiful and very readable Calligraphy. The coin has a few scratches and some bag marks, which can be seen in the photos. Be that as it may, this is a quality and beautiful coin. The coin is problem free and looks much better than the photos suggest. Please see photos 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. The dinar weighed 4.25 grams, or one mithqal, of the highest purity gold possible. At the time the center of power and the main gold coin mint was located in Dimishq (current day Damascus in Syria).
