ISLAMIC, Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Samanids. Nasr II ibn Ahmad, AH 301-331 / AD 914-943. Dirham (Silver, 27 mm, 3.13 g, 6 h), Balkh, AH 315 = 927/8. ‘lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / ḥasbī Allāh’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him. Allah is Sufficient for me’ in Arabic); inner margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi Balkh sana khams ʿashra wa thalātha miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dirham was struck in Balkh in the year 315’ in Arabic); outer margin, ‘li-llāh al-amr min qabl wa min baʿd wa yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu al-muʾminūn 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-Muqtadir billah (AH 295-320 / AD 908-932), ‘li-llāh / Muḥammad / rasūl Allāh / al-Muqtadir billāh / Naṣr ibn Aḥmad’ (‘To Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Muqtadir billah. Nasr son of Ahmad’ 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 1451. Struck from worn dies and with minor edge cracks, otherwise, very fine.