Gold dinar

The gold dinar (Arabic: ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهبي‎) is a gold coin first issued in 77 AH (696-7 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The name is derived from denarius, a Roman coin. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (4.25 grams).

Background

Although there was a dictum that the Byzantine solidus was not to be used outside of the Byzantine empire, there was some trade that involved these coins which then did not get re-minted by the emperors minting operations, and quickly became worn. Towards the end of the 7th century CE, Arabic copies of solidii - dinars issued by the caliph Abd al-Malik (685-705 CE), who had access to supplies of gold from the upper Nile - began to circulate in areas outside of the Byzantine empire. These corresponded in weight to only 20 carats (4.0 g), but matched with the weight of the worn solidii that were circulating in those areas at the time. The two coins circulated together in these areas for a time.

First dated coins

The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver Dirhams of the Sassanian ruler Yazdegerd III, struck during the Caliphate of Uthman. These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading "In the Name of Allah". The subsequent series was issued using types based on drachmas of Khosrau II, whose coins probably represented a significant proportion of the currency in circulation.