ISLAMIC, Arabia. Mahdids. temp. 'Ali ibn Mahdi, AH 554-558 / AD 1159-1163. Dirham (Silver, 21 mm, 1.60 g, 4 h), [Zabid], AH [5]55 = 1160/1. Shiʿa kalima within a circle, ‘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); in the margin, ‘ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham sana khams wa khamsīn’ (‘This dirham was struck in the year [5]55’ in Arabic). Rev. ‘al-imām / shams / sharīʿat / al-islām’ (‘The imam is the sun of the law of Islam’ in Arabic); illegible legend around. Album 1081. A very rare date. Struck from worn dies and with some porosity, otherwise, very fine.