'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Amin, AH 193-199 / AD 809-813. Fals (Bronze, 19 mm, 2.40 g, 12 h), citing the official ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad, Dabil (Dvin, Armenia), AH 194 = AD 809/10. Central field, in four lines, within circle with four pellets around: lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / mīm (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate / letter mīm(?)’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in four lines: mimmā amara bihī / al-amīr ʿAbd Allāh / ibn Muḥammad / ʿadl (‘From what was ordered by the amir ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad / just’ in Arabic). Margin: Muḥammad rasūl Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-fals bi-Dabīl sanat arbaʿ wa-tisʿīn wa-miʾa (‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God, this fals was struck at Dabil in the year one hundred and ninety-four’ in Arabic). Album 316. Vardanyan 248. Extremely rare, with the name clearly legible. Some scratches and deposits, otherwise, nearly very fine.


Dabīl, the Arabic form of Dvin, was one of the principal urban centers of early Islamic Armenia and an important Abbasid mint in the Caucasian frontier region.

The official named on this issue, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad, remains difficult to place securely in the literary sources. The inscription indicates that he was the authority who ordered the issue, probably acting as a local or provincial official in Armīniya. This makes the coin especially important, since it preserves the name of an otherwise obscure Abbasid administrator in the region.

The marginal inscription is also unusual, since it combines the prophetic formula Muḥammad rasūl Allāh directly with the mint and date formula, rather than using the more standard arrangement with bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-fals. This irregular formulation adds to the interest of the issue.