ISLAMIC, Abbasid Caliphate. time of the Caliph, al-Mansur. Dirham al-Basra mint. Struck AH 146 / AD 763–764 (No reserve price)

Islamic – Abbasid Caliphate
Caliph: al-Manṣur (AH 136–158 / AD 754–775)
Silver Dirham – Struck AH 146 / AD 763–764
Mint: al-Baṣra
Weight: 2.93 g  Diameter: 25 mm
Reference: SICA III, 532 (for type)
Grade: Very Fine (VF); sharply struck with clear, well-preserved inscriptions.
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Historical Background
This dirham was struck in AH 146, during the mature phase of the reign of al-Manṣūr, the second Abbasid caliph and one of the dynasty’s key architects. By this time, al-Manṣūr had firmly consolidated Abbasid authority, completed the suppression of major uprisings, and had recently founded Baghdad (AH 145), which would become the imperial capital and the intellectual heart of the Islamic world.
Al-Baṣra, one of the great early Islamic garrison cities of southern Iraq, remained a major administrative and commercial center under the Abbasids. The mint’s dirhams from this period exemplify the fully developed epigraphic style of early Islamic coinage—eschewing imagery in favor of Qur’anic text and declarations of faith, serving both monetary and ideological purposes.
Coins like this reinforced the legitimacy of the Abbasid regime through their inscriptions, projecting religious authority and political stability across the expanding realm.