ISLAMIC COINAGE – Umayyad Caliphate Al-Walīd I ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (AH 86–96 / AD 705–715) Dirham (AR, 27 mm, 2.84 g), Jayy mint (near Isfahan), AH 90 (AD 708/709) Reference: Album 128 (scarce mint) Condition: fine, small deposit at the centre. ________________________________________ Obverse Three-line central inscription of the Kalima (Islamic declaration of faith): (“There is no deity but Allah alone; He has no partner.”) Outer margin: mint name Jayy and Hijri year 90 AH, in early Kufic script. ________________________________________ Reverse Central field: Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ (Qurʾān 112) in four lines, affirming the unity of God. Outer margin: Qurʾān 9:33: “He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it prevail over all religion…” ________________________________________Historical background Struck in AH 90 (AD 708/709) during the reign of Caliph al-Walīd I, this dirham belongs to the high point of Umayyad power. His reign saw continued territorial expansion across Hispania in the west and Central Asia in the east, alongside major administrative consolidation within the caliphate. This period also reflects the lasting impact of the monetary reforms of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, which replaced earlier Byzantine and Sasanian types with a unified Islamic epigraphic coinage. These purely inscriptional dirhams reinforced both religious doctrine and caliphal authority across the expanding Islamic world. The mint of Jayy, located near present-day Isfahan in central Iran, was an important regional centre inherited from the Sasanian administrative system. Under Umayyad rule, it was integrated into the wider imperial monetary network, though its output remained relatively limited compared to major mints such as Wasit or Damascus, making issues from Jayy comparatively scarce today.