'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mahdi, AH 158-169 / AD 775-785. Dinar (Gold, 19 mm, 4.17 g, 2 h), no mint, AH 164 = AD 780/1. 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: 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 that He may cause it to prevail over all religion’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in three lines: Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh (‘Muḥammad is the Messenger of God’ in Arabic). Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār sanat arbaʿ wa-sittīn wa-miʾa (‘In the name of God, this dinar was struck in the year one hundred and sixty-four’ in Arabic). Pellet above the reverse field. Album 214. Bernardi 51. SICA III, 99. Rare. Slightly clipped and tiny scratches, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.


A particularly interesting feature of this specimen is the use of a diacritical point in the date word arbaʿ in the reverse margin. Diacritical marks are generally uncommon on early ʿAbbāsid gold dinars, whose inscriptions usually appear in an undotted monumental script. The survival of the dot here is therefore a small but noteworthy epigraphic detail, illustrating the occasional and selective use of pointing in early Islamic coin legends.