ISLAMIC, Persia (Post-Mongol). Safavids. Tahmasp I, AH 930-984 / AD 1524-1576. 1/2 Mithqal (Gold, 16 mm, 2.32 g, 9 h), fourth gold standard, Harat (Herat), AH 978 = AD 1570/1. Shiʿa kalima, ‘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); the names of the twelve shiʿa imams in the surrounding segments, mostly effaced. Rev. ‘qolām-e ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ʿalayh al-salām shāh Ṭahmāsp, zarb-e Harāt 978’ (‘The servant of ʿAli son of Abi Talib, peace be upon him, Shah Tahmasp. Struck in Harat, 978’ in Arabic/Persian); marginal legend effaced. Album N2593. Rare. Light areas of weakness and minor scratches, otherwise, good very fine.