ISLAMIC, Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Samanids. Isma'il I ibn Ahmad, AH 279-295 / AD 892-907. Dirham (Silver, 26 mm, 5.77 g, 6 h), Andaraba, AH 280 = 893/4. ‘lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him’ in Arabic); inner margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi Andarāba sana thamānīn wa miʾatayn’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dirham was struck in Andaraba in the year 280’ in Arabic); outer margin, ‘[li-llāh al-amr] min qabl wa min baʿd wa yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu al-m[uʾminūn bi naṣr Allāh]’ (‘To Allah belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice with the help of Allah’ in Arabic; Qurʾān 30: 4-5). Rev. Citing the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Muktafi billah (AH 289-295 / AD 902-908), ‘li-llāh / Muḥammad / rasūl Allāh / al-Muktafī bi-llāh / Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad’ (‘To Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Muktafi billah. Ismaʿil son of Ahmad’ in Arabic); in the margin, weak traces of ‘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). Comment: a mule of a new reverse and an older obverse belonging to the time of the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Muʿtadid billah (AH 279-289 / AD 892-902). Album 1443. Very fine.