Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Dirham (Silver, 27 mm, 2.53 g, 9 h), Jayy, AH 79 = AD 698/9. Central field, in three lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate’ in Arabic). Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi-Jayy sanat tisʿ wa-sabʿīn (‘In the name of God, this dirham was struck in Jayy in the year seventy-nine’ in Arabic); within triple circular borders; five pellets around; with an additional outer circle. Rev. Central field, in four lines (Qurʾān 112:1-4): Allāh aḥad Allāh / al-ṣamad lam yalid wa / lam yūlad wa-lam yakun / lahu kufuwan aḥad (‘God is One, God the Eternal Refuge; He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none comparable to Him’ in Arabic). Margin (Qurʾān 9:33): Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahu bi-l-hudā wa-dīn al-ḥaqq li-yuẓhirahu ʿalā al-dīn kullihi wa-law kariha al-mushrikūn (‘Muḥammad is the Messenger of God, whom He sent with guidance and the religion of truth that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, even though the polytheists may dislike it’ in Arabic); within circular borders; five pellets around; with an additional outer circle. Album 126. ICV 258. Klat 253.b. Rare and lightly toned. Some deposits and minor scratches, otherwise, very fine.


Dirhams dated AH 79 belong to the very earliest phase of the post-reform Umayyad silver coinage, struck only shortly after the introduction of the fully epigraphic Islamic dirham. These early issues are especially important because they show the rapid implementation of ʿAbd al-Malik’s monetary reform across the provincial mints of Iran and Iraq.

Jayy, the mint of Isfahan, was one of the major eastern mints active in this first generation of reformed silver production. The combination of the early date AH 79 and the Jayy mint is much rarer than later Umayyad dirhams from the same mint, making the issue especially desirable within the early post-reform series.