ISLAMIC, Arabia. Sulayhids. 'Ali ibn Muhammad, AH 439-473 / AD 1047-1081. Dinar (Electrum, 20 mm, 2.29 g), imitative type. Shiʿa kalima in three lines in a pseudo-Kufic style: ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / ʿAlī walī Allāh’ (‘There is no deity but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Ali is the friend of Allah’ in Arabic); mint and date formula around in a pseudo-Kufic style consisting of horizontal and vertical lines. Rev. Pseudo-Kufic legend citing the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir (AH 427-487 / AD 1036-1094) before the ruler’s name; pseudo-Kufic legend in outer margin consisting of horizontal and vertical lines. Album 1075.3. Struck from the usual worn dies, otherwise, very fine.


These imitations may have been struck across the Red Sea in what is now Ethiopia or Eritrea, though most known specimens are said to have Yemeni rather than African provenance.