Dinars and Dirhams. Coins of the Islamic lands. The early period (Part One)

VOLUME XIX

2024

Aram R. Vardanyan

The Islamic coinage in the Collection is among the most outstanding in private hands, with some 14,500 issues in gold, silver and copper. The coins were issued across the Islamic world, from North Africa to Central Asia and India, in the 7th to the 20th centuries. Many series are represented in larger numbers and in greater variety than in any other collection. The entire collection will be published online, but in the meantime it was decided to publish a representative 2,100 of them, selected for their rarity, historical significance, clarity and overall numismatic importance in two volumes, of which this is the first.

The gold, silver and copper coins featured in this volume were issued between the 7th and the 13th centuries. They include many rare and hitherto unpublished specimens. Of special interest among the early gold coins is the group of Arab-Latin gold solidi from Spain and North Africa, as well as the first post-reform dinar of AH 77 (AD 696–7), the rare dinar of AH 105 (AD 723–4) which mentions ma‛din amir al-mu’minin bi’l-Hijaz and the rare Abbasid dinar of the year the family assumed the caliphate, AH 132 (AD 749–50). The silver coinage contains many unparalleled series and a number of presentation issues while the copper coins include the expressive Artuqid issues of the Jazira and eastern Anatolia. The volume opens with a general introduction detailing the highlights of the Collection, and each of the six chapters is preceded by a historical overview. A second volume is dedicated to a selection of coins issued between the 13th and 20th centuries.