Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Ghaznavids. Yamin al-Dawla Abu'l-Qasim Mahmud, AH 384-387 / AD 994-997. Dinar (Gold, 24 mm, 4.20 g, 9 h), as Samanid governor in western Khorasan. Nishapur, AH 384 = AD 994/5. ‘ʿAmūd / lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / al-walī Sayf / al-Dawla’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him. The [protecting] friend ʿAmud [and] Sayf al-Dawla’ in Arabic); in the inner margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi Nayshābūr sana arbaʿ wa thamānīn wa thalātha miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dinar was struck in Nishapur in the year 384’ in Arabic); in the 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 deposed ʿAbbasid caliph al-Taʾiʿ lillah (AH 363-381 / AD 974-991) and the Samanid overlord Nuh ibn Mansur (AH 365-387 / AD 976-997), ‘li-llāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / al-Ṭāʾiʿ lillāh / al-malik al-manṣūr / Nūḥ ibn Manṣūr’ (‘For Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Taʾiʿ lillah. The victorious king Nuh son of Mansur’ 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 A1602. Rare and well struck. Extremely fine.