ISLAMIC, Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Samanids. 'Abd al-Malik I ibn Nuh, AH 343-350 / AD 954-961. Dinar (Gold, 23 mm, 3.89 g, 3 h), Nishapur, AH 343 = 954/5. ‘lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him’ in Arabic); star to right; inner margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi Naysābūr sana thalāth wa arbaʿīn wa thalātha miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dinar was struck in Nishapur in the year 343’ in Arabic); outer margin, ‘li-llāh al-amr min qabl wa min baʿd wa yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu al-muʾminūn bi naṣr Allāh’ (‘To Allah belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice with the help of Allah’ in Arabic; Qurʾān 30: 4-5). Rev. Citing the deposed ʿAbbasid caliph al-Mustakfi billah (AH 333-334 / AD 944-946), ‘li-llāh / Muḥammad / rasūl Allāh / al-Mustakfī lillāh[sic] / ʿAbd al-Malik ibn / Nūḥ’ (‘To Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Mustakfi billah. ʿAbd al-Malik son of Nuh’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn’ (‘Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it’ in Arabic). Album 1460. Areas of weakness, otherwise, very fine.