Fatimids. al-Mustansir billah, AH 427-487 / AD 1036-1094. Dinar (Gold, 22 mm, 3.93 g, 3 h), first standard dinar with Shiʿite profession of faith, Misr, AH 439 = AD 1047/8. Central field, in five lines, within concentric circles: ʿAlī / lā ilāha illā Allāh / waḥdahū lā sharīka lahū / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / walī Allāh (‘ʿAlī / There is no deity but God / He alone, He has no associate / Muḥammad is the Messenger of God / the friend of God’ 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, to make it prevail over all religion, even though the polytheists may dislike it’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in four lines, within concentric circles: Maʿadd / al-imām Abū / Tamīm al-Mustanṣir / bi-llāh amīr al-muʾminīn (‘Maʿadd, the Imam Abū Tamīm al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh, Commander of the Believers’ in Arabic). Margin: bi-sm Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi-Miṣr sana tisʿ wa thalāthīn wa arbaʿ-miʾa (‘In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, this dinar was struck in Misr in the year four hundred and thirty-nine’ in Arabic). Album 719.1. Nicol 2119. Rare with this clear and extraordinary calligraphy. Slightly clipped, otherwise, extremely fine.



This remarkable issue preserves visible guide lines used by the die engraver during the preparation of the dies. When engraving Islamic coin dies, craftsmen commonly incised preliminary guide lines in order to control spacing, alignment, and the proportional arrangement of letters and words within the fields and margins. These construction lines were normally removed during the final stages of engraving and are therefore almost never visible on finished coins.

On the present specimen, however, these guide lines remain clearly visible throughout both the central and marginal inscriptions, offering an exceptional insight into the technical process of medieval Islamic die production. Such surviving workshop marks are of considerable numismatic interest and add a highly unusual documentary aspect to the piece.

Additionally, the calligraphy of this issue is executed in an exceptionally refined manner, with elegant and carefully balanced lettering that is notably superior to that encountered on many contemporary Fatimid dinars.