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The gold dinar ( ar, ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهبي) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, عبد الملك ابن مروان ابن الحكم, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 ...
. The weight of the dinar is 1
mithqal Mithqāl ( ar, ) is a unit of mass equal to which is mostly used for measuring precious metals, such as gold, and other commodities, like saffron. The name was also applied as an alternative term for the gold dinar, a coin that was used throu ...
(). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Latin word
denarius The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...
, which was a silver coin. The name "dinar" is also used for
Sasanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
,
Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...
, and Kidarite gold coins, though it is not known what the contemporary name was. The first dinars were issued by the
Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
. Under the dynasties that followed the use of the dinar spread from Islamic Spain to Central Asia.


Background

Although there was a dictum that the Byzantine solidus was not to be used outside of the
Byzantine empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, there was some trade that involved these coins which then did not get re-minted by the emperors minting operations, and quickly became worn. Towards the end of the 7th century CE, Arabic copies of solidi – dinars issued by the
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Abd al-Malik (685–705 CE), who had access to supplies of gold from the upper Nile – began to circulate in areas outside of the Byzantine empire. These corresponded in weight to only , but matched with the weight of the worn solidi that were circulating in those areas at the time. The two coins circulated together in these areas for a time.Porteous 1969


First dated coins

The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver Dirhams of the Sassanian ruler
Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at the ...
, struck during the
Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
of Uthman. These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading "in the Name of Allah". The subsequent series was issued using types based on drachmas of Khosrau II, whose coins probably represented a significant proportion of the currency in circulation. In parallel with the later Khosrau-type Arab-Sassanian coins, first issued under the Well-Guided Caliphs of Islam, a more extensive series was struck with Khosrau's name replaced by that of the local Arab governor or, in two cases, that of the Caliph. Historical evidence makes it clear that most of these coins bear Hijra dates. The earliest Muslim copper coins are anonymous and undated but a series exists which may have been issued during the Caliphates of Uthman or Ali. These are crude copies of Byzantine 12- nummus pieces of
Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revol ...
from
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
.


First silver dirham

By the year AH 75 (695 CE) Abd al-Malik had decided on changes to the coinage. A scattering of patterned pieces in silver exist from this date, based on Sassanian prototypes but with distinctive Arabic reverses. This experiment, which maintained the Sassanian weight standard of 3.5–4.0 grams was not proceeded with, and in 698 CE (AH 79) a completely new type of silver coin was struck at 14 mints to a new nominal weight of 2.97 grams. Unlike the contemporary gold coinage, this figure does not seem to have been achieved in practice. The average weight of sixty undamaged specimens of 698-704 (AH 79–84) is only 2.71 grams, a figure very close to that for a unique coin of 698 (AH 79) struck with no mint name (as was the standard procedure for the gold dinars produced in Damascus). These new coins which bore the name of 'dirham', established the style of the Arab-Sassanian predecessors at 25 to 28 mm in diameter. Their design is composed of Arabic inscriptions surrounded by circles and annulets. On each side there is a three- or four-line legend with a single circular inscription. Outside this are three line circles with, at first, five annulets surrounding them. The side normally taken as the obverse has as its central legend the Kalima or shahada: "There is no god except God alone, there is no partner with Him." Around it is the mint and date formula reading "In the Name of God: this Dirham was struck in int name e.g. Damascusthe year .g. 698, AH 79. The reverse has a four line central inscription taken from the Surah 112 of the Quran; "Qul hu Allahu Ahad, Allahu-Samad, Lam yalid wa lam yulad wa lam yakul-lahu kufu-an ahad"'. The marginal legend states: "Muhammad is the Messenger of God, he was sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over every other religion, averse though the idolaters may be" (Quran 9:33)


First gold dinar

The gold coins were first struck to the contemporary standard of 4.4 grams and with one or more Arabic Standing figures on the obverse and an Arabic legend on the reverse. Dated coins exist from 680 (AH 74) and are named as 'Dinars'. These experimental issues were replaced in 683 (AH 77), except in North Africa and Spain, by completely epigraphical designs very similar to the designs adopted for the silver pieces but with a shorter reverse legend and no annulets or inner circles. This type was used without appreciable change for the whole of
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
period, the coins being struck to a new and carefully controlled standard of 4.25 grams. This weight was reputed to be based on the average of the current Byzantine solidi, was called a
Mithqal Mithqāl ( ar, ) is a unit of mass equal to which is mostly used for measuring precious metals, such as gold, and other commodities, like saffron. The name was also applied as an alternative term for the gold dinar, a coin that was used throu ...
, a term used earlier for of a ratl. Evidence of the importance attached to the close control of the new Dinars is provided by the existence of glass weights, mainly from Egypt. They usually show the governor's name, sometimes the date but all marked with coin denomination. Early gold dinars imitated
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
coins of the time, but as time progressed, they began to take on a more uniquely Islamic style. Two early examples, minted in approximately 692 and 694 C.E., have similar designs. Both have a depiction of figures on the obverse while the reverse includes a pyramid-shaped pedestal and a staff with a circular head resting at the top. These two early coin types both bare significant resemblance to Byzantine coins of the same period. In fact, they were all but copied whole cloth from Byzantine designs, the only alterations being the removal of the horizontal bar of the Byzantine cross for religious reasons and the conversion of figures on the front to wearing Islamic-style dress. In the year 692 C.E., the Shahada, or profession of faith, was added onto the obverse and in 694 C.E. it was added to the reverse. In the year 696-7 C.E., images were almost completely removed from coins and were replaced by coins exclusively decorated with inscriptions. The issues in gold from North Africa began as copies of the coins of Heraclius and his son (but with an abbreviated Kalima in Latin), the reverse "cross on steps" losing in most cases its cross piece. Dinars, halves and thirds were struck, all to the new weight standard. Later coins are dated by indiction, from Indiction II (703, AH 84–85) changing to the Hijra date in Roman numerals in 713 (AH 94) with Arabic phrases appearing in the field from 716 (AH 97). In 684 (AH 100), North Africa came into line with the eastern issues although the mint is named as
Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...
. The legends are shorter and the reverse has a new central inscription: "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate". This was used also on the coins from
Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
, and on the half and third Dinars, most of which show no mint but may well have been struck in Al-Andalus.


Modern use

The modern gold dinar is not an official currency, but a private
bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes fro ...
coin, patterned after the historical currency.


See also

*
Fals The fals ( ar, فلس, fals, plural ''fulus'') was a medieval copper coin first produced by the Umayyad caliphate (661–750) beginning in the late 7th century. The name of the coin is derived from the ''follis'', a Roman and later Byzantine ...


References

{{Islamic banking and finance
Dinar The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread. The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin ...
Islamic banking Coins of the medieval Islamic world Umayyad Caliphate Islamic banking and finance terminology 7th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate id:Dinar emas sq:Dinari islam