ISLAMIC, Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Samanids. Mansur II ibn Nuh II, AH 387-389 / AD 997-999. Dinar (Gold, 23 mm, 5.65 g, 8 h), Nishapur, AH 387 = AD 997/8. Citing the majordomo Abu’l-Fawaris Bektuzun, ‘ʿadl / lā ilāha illā Allāh / waḥdahū lā sharīka lahū / Abu’l-Fawāris / Baktūzun’ (‘Justice. There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him. Abu’l-Fawaris Bektuzun’ in Arabic); in the inner margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi Nayshābūr sana sabʿ wa thamānīn wa thalātha miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dinar was struck in Nishapur in the year 387’ in Arabic); in the 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-Taʾiʿ lillah (AH 363-381 / AD 974-991), ‘li-llāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / al-Ṭaʾiʿ lillāh / al-malik al-musaddad / Manṣūr ibn Nūḥ’ (‘For Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Taʾiʿ lillah. The guided king, Mansur 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 1472.2. Wavy and crinkled flan, otherwise, very fine.