ISLAMIC, Persia (Post-Mongol). Safavids. Tahmasp I, AH 930-984 / AD 1524-1576. 1/2 Mithqal (Gold, 17 mm, 2.35 g, 4 h), fourth standard, Mashhad, AH 976 = AD 1568/9. Shiʿa kalima, ‘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); the names of the twelve shiʿa imams in the surrounding segments. Rev. ‘zarb-e Mashhad-e Emām Rezā 976’ (‘Struck in Imam Rezā’s [Riḍā’s] Mashhad, 976’ in Persian); the name and titles of the king in the marginal legend, almost entirely effaced. Album N2593. Rare. Some areas of weakness and with a minor bump, otherwise, very fine.