Oriental coins (VII-XXI century)

The conquerors of the territories that previously belonged to Byzantium were not familiar with the coinage before the reign of Muhammad, and therefore the history of the Arab coinage begins with imitation of coins of the Byzantine and Sassanian type. In part, these imitations were a rather loose interpretation of the original. Along with them, images of the ruling caliphs were minted on Arab coins.
Around 696-698, Caliph Abdul-Malik ibn Mervan from the Umayyad dynasty (685-705) carried out a reform of the eastern monetary system. Continue reading →