Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (24.5mm, 1.84 g, 1h). Herat mint. Dated AH 80 (AD 699/700). Fine.

Islamic Auction 15 – Session One
Lot: 19.
Closing Date: Oct 28 2026 11:00 GMT

Post-Reform Umayyad, Silver

Estimate: $ 2 500

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Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (24.5mm, 1.84 g, 1h). Herat mint. Dated AH 80 (AD 699/700). Obverse field: without Pahlawi mint-name below / Reverse: margin ends al-mushrikn. Klat –; al-‘Ajlan –. Clipped. Fine. Of the highest rarity, apparently unpublished.

The first years of minting post-reform Umayyad dirhams at Herat seem to have been somewhat chaotic. Dirhams struck there in AH 79 have standard legends and the normal five small annulets on the obverse, but specimens are known on which the mint-name is variously misspelled as ‘Ahbahr’ (with the letters of the mint-name engraved in reverse order) and ‘Hr’ (with the final two letters omitted). Inexplicably, those coins on which the name is correctly engraved have seven annulets on the reverse, while ‘Ahbahr’ and ‘Hr’ have the normal five. Equally inexplicably, in AH 80 it was decided to add the Pahlawi mint-signature below the obverse field, following the pattern adopted on dirhams struck at Marw and Marw al-Rudh between AH 79 and AH 84. The present coin, which omits the Pahlawi mint-signature, allows us to date this change to AH 80, although it is far from clear what might have happened in this year to promt this decision.

The final winners of all lots in Session One of CNG Islamic Auction 15 will be determined during the live sale held on 28 October 2026.

Session Two of CNG Islamic Auction 15, a timed online sale, will be held on Thursday, 29 October 2026, beginning at 2:00 PM GMT.



Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and in person at the public auction, 25% for all others.

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