ISLAMIC, Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Samanids. Nuh I ibn Nasr, AH 331-343 / AD 943-954. Dinar (Gold, 26 mm, 3.78 g), Muhammadiya, AH 331 = 943. Citing the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Muttaqi lillah (AH 329-333 / AD 940-944) on the reverse. ‘lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him’ in Arabic); to the left, ‘al-qudrat lillāh’ (‘Power belongs to Allah’ in Arabic); inner margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi al-Muḥammadiyya sana iḥdā wa thalāthīn wa thalātha miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dinar was struck in Muhammadiyya in the year 331’ in Arabic); outer margin, ‘li-llāh al-amr min qabl wa min baʿd wa yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu al-muʾminūn bi naṣr Allāh’ (‘To Allah belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice with the help of Allah’ in Arabic; Qurʾān 30: 4-5). Rev. ‘li-llāh / Muḥammad / rasūl Allāh / al-Muttaqi lillāh / Nūḥ ibn Naṣr’ (‘To Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Muttaqi lillah. Nuh son of Nasr’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn’ (‘Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it’ in Arabic). Album 1454. Slightly wavy flan and with some doubling on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.

From the collection of Dr. D. Löer, formed since the 1970s.