ISLAMIC, Arabia. Mahdids. temp. 'Ali ibn Mahdi, AH 554-558 / AD 1159-1163. Dirham (Silver, 20 mm, 1.52 g, 5 h), Zabid, AH [5]58 = 1162/3. Shiʿa kalima within a circle, ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / ʿAlī walī Allāh’ (‘There is no deity but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Ali is the friend of Allah’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘[ḍuriba] hādhā al-dirham bi Zabīd sana thamān wa khamsīn’ (‘This dirham was struck in Zabid in the year [5]58’ in Arabic). Rev. ‘al-imām / shams / sharīʿat / al-islām’ (‘The imam is the sun of the law of Islam’ in Arabic); illegible legend around. Album 1081. Very rare. Somewhat rough, otherwise, very fine.