Umayyad Caliphate. Anonymous post-reform fals. Fals (Bronze, 20 mm, 2.39 g, 11 h), Arminiya (Armenia), no date. Central field, in three lines: Allāh / aḥad Allāh / al-ṣamad (‘God / God is One / the Eternal Refuge’ in Arabic). Margin: lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahū lā sharīka lahū (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in three lines: Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh (‘Muhammad / is the Messenger / of God’ in Arabic). Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-fals bi-Arminiya wa-jāz (‘In the name of God, this fals was struck in Arminiya and is current’ in Arabic). Album 196. Walker 746. Heavy deposits and some scratches, otherwise, nearly very fine.


The reverse marginal formula ends with wa-jāz, ‘and is current’, a distinctive feature of this Arminiya fals type. The phrase confirms the coin’s local validity or acceptability and is one of the features that distinguishes this issue from more standard Umayyad copper formulae.