Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Dinar (Gold, 19 mm, 4.24 g, 6 h), No mint, AH 79 = AD 698/9. Central field, in three lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate’ in Arabic). Margin (Qurʾān 9:33): Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahu bi-l-hudā wa-dīn al-ḥaqq li-yuẓhirahu ʿalā al-dīn kullihi (‘Muḥammad is the Messenger of God, whom He sent with guidance and the religion of truth, to make it prevail over all religion’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in three lines (Qurʾān 112:1-3): Allāh aḥad Allāh / al-ṣamad lam yalid / wa lam yūlad (‘God is One, God the Eternal Refuge; He begets not, nor is He begotten’ in Arabic). Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār fī sana tisʿ wa sabʿīn (‘In the name of God, this dinar was struck in the year seventy-nine’ in Arabic). Album 125. Walker 189. Pierced and minor marks, otherwise, very fine.


The reformed gold dinars of ʿAbd al-Malik represent one of the most important monetary innovations in Islamic history. Introduced after the abandonment of figural Byzantine-inspired types, these fully epigraphic issues established the standard design for Islamic gold coinage for centuries thereafter and formed a central component of the Umayyad monetary reforms of the late 7th century AD.

Perforated coins such as the present specimen can preserve valuable historical information concerning secondary usage and personal devotional practices. The placement of the suspension hole on this example is particularly interesting: with the die axis at 6 h, the coin would have hung with the reverse correctly oriented while the obverse appeared upside down. This strongly suggests that the reverse side, bearing the Qurʾānic declaration Allāh aḥad Allāh al-ṣamad, was regarded as the more significant face by the wearer.