ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. Uncertain period (post-reform), AH 77-132 / AD 697-750. Fals (Bronze, 13 mm, 2.81 g, 11 h), Menorah type, Iliya (Jerusalem). Candlestick with five branches; around 'no God but Allah, He is alone' in Kufic. Rev. 'Muhammad is the messenger of Allah' in three lines in Kufic. D. Barag, “The Islamic Candlestick Coins of Jerusalem,” INJ 10, type 4. SICA II, 1310 (mint uncertain). About very fine.


An earlier variety of this type has the traditional menorah with seven branches. Our coin has the number of branches reduced to five, which perhaps stand for the five pillars of Islam.