Islamic Coin al-Walid ibn Abdel Malik Umayyad Silver Dirham Wasit Iraq 89 AH VF+
Description: A beautiful very fine or better Umayyad silver dirham struck in 89 AH (708 AD) during the reign of the Caliph al-Walid son of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Al-Walid ruled the Islamic world in the period 86-96 AH (705-715 AD). Al-Walid'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 Wasit in current day Iraq and the year of minting being 89 AH. This is a nice coin with a well centered strike and very readable calligraphy. It is nicely toned having some embedded soiling along the edges of both the obverse and reverse. The coin has a 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 89 AH or 708 AD.
Mint: The coin clearly shows mint location being Wasit in current day Iraq.
Size and weight: This is a silver dirham, weighs ~2.8 grams and is ~26.5 mm in diameter.
References: It is Album 128, al-Ush #968, is listed in Lane Poole Catalogue of the Collection of Arabic Coins Preserved in the Khedivial Library in Cairo Egypt as #166-169 and is listed in Wilkes as 297.
Condition: I would grade this coin as nice very fine or better with a well centered strike having beautiful and very readable Calligraphy. The coin is nicely toned with some embedded soiling along the edges of both the obverse and reverse. It has wear making commensurate with the coin's age and circulated state. The coin is problem free, great looking, and much better than the photos suggest. Definitely a high quality and beautiful coin. 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.
