'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid, AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. Fals (Bronze, 24 mm, 2.77 g, 9 h), citing Khuzayma ibn Khāzim and al-Qāsim, with marginal legend both sides, Dabil (Dvin, Armenia), AH 189 = AD 804/5. Above and below: bakh (‘Good’ in Arabic). 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 mostly illegible. Rev. Above and below, in two parts: ʿalā yaday / Qāsim (‘By the hand of Qāsim’ in Arabic). Central field, in three lines: mimmā amara bihī / al-amīr Khuzayma / ibn Khāzim (‘From what was ordered by the amir Khuzayma ibn Khāzim’ in Arabic). Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-fals bi-Dabīl sanat tisʿ wa-thamānīn wa-miʾa (‘In the name of God, this fals was struck at Dabil in the year one hundred and eighty-nine’ in Arabic). Vardanyan 2011, 257. Zeno 327775. Extremely rare, with marginal legends on both sides. Harshly cleaned, some deposits and small flan faults on the reverse, otherwise, good fine.


Khuzayma ibn Khāzim was a leading Abbasid military and political figure of the late 2nd century AH. He was the son of Khāzim ibn Khuzayma al-Tamīmī, a major Khurasani Arab commander, and remained influential under Hārūn al-Rashīd. He was also connected with al-Qāsim, Hārūn’s son, who was appointed to important frontier commands, with Khuzayma serving as his guardian and tutor according to historical accounts.

The phrase ʿalā yaday Qāsim, ‘by the hand of Qāsim’, probably indicates the intermediary or executive official through whom the issue was carried out. In combination with mimmā amara bihī al-amīr Khuzayma ibn Khāzim, the legends show a layered administrative structure, with Khuzayma named as the ordering authority and Qāsim associated with the execution of the issue.

This type very rarely preserves an obverse marginal legend. On the present specimen, although the obverse margin is mostly illegible, the presence of marginal legends on both sides makes the coin especially interesting within the Dabil fals series of AH 189.