Drachmas Doubloons and Dollars: The History of Money
(Exhibition Home)
Medieval Byzantine and Islamic Empires
Introduction
The Reforms of Anastasius I - The 6th and 7th Centuries - Symbols of a Christian Empire - The Reforms of Alexius I Comnenus - The Venetian Standard - Early Islamic Coinage - Dirhams and Dinars - The Western Islamic World - Figural Islamic Coins - The Mongols
Early Islamic Coinage

The first Muslims continued to use the familiar coins of the Byzantine and Sasanian Persian Empires, and made new coins imitating them. Later, in 695, the image of the Caliph was substituted, but it was soon replaced by entirely inscriptional designs.
Silver dirham (662) of the Arab governor 'Abdullah ibn 'Amir, imitating a Sasanian drahm of Khusru II.
Copper fals (692-694) imitating a Byzantine follis with Greek and Arabic inscriptions.
Umayyad gold solidus (705-706) from North Africa bearing the Muslim credo in Latin abbreviations.
Umayyad gold dinar (695) depicting the Caliph 'Abd al-Malik armed with a sword. The image is a response to Byzantine solidi of Justinian II showing the Emperor.