ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid, AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. Dirham (Silver, 25 mm, 3.00 g, 3 h), Balkh, AH 189 = 804/5. ‘lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi madīnat Balkh sana tisʿ wa thamānīn wa miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dirham was struck in the city of Balkh in the year 189’ in Arabic). Rev. Citing ʿAli ibn ʿIsa, the governor of Khorasan, and his own son al-Maʾmun ʿAbd Allah as the second heir apparent, ‘ʿAlī / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / mimmā amara bihī al-amīr al-Maʾmūn / ʿAbd Allāh ibn amīr al-muʾminīn walī / walī ʿahd al-muslimīn’ (‘Ali. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. From that ordered by the Amir Maʾmun ʿAbd Allah son of the Commander of the Believers, [and] successor of the successor to the covenant of the Muslims’ in Arabic); in the margin: ‘Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn’ (‘Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it’ in Arabic). Album 219.11. Light scratches and minor doubling, otherwise, extremely fine.