MT: Islamic Numismatics
ANA
September 24, 1998
ISLAMIC NUMISMATICS
By Kerry K. Wetterstrom
It was one of the most momentous journeys in all of history. Though
it covered a distance of only 300 miles--this famous trip saved the life of
one of history's most important figures.
The person who took that trip was Muhammad, the greatest of all the
prophets of Islam . . . a religion with nearly 900 million believers
worldwide.
Muhammad was afraid for his life. He decided to flee Mecca-where the
rulers had long opposed him, because his teachings threatened their wealth
and way of life. It was Muhammad's escape from Mecca, and his arrival at
Medina on September 24th in the year 622 A.D. that Moslems revere as the
beginning of Islamic history and religion.
Among the many innovations introduced by the Islamic religious state
was its coins. Instead of portraits and pictures, which Moslems considered
idolatrous, Islamic coins used calligraphy. The principle silver coin was
the "dirhem," the basis of Islamic money for more than five centuries.
On the coin's front side is the Islamic declaration of Faith, called
the "kalima." Around it is the mint/date formula which can read something
like "In the name of Allah: this dirhem was struck in Damascus in the year
four and eighty." The reverse side of this coin has a four-line central
inscription taken from the Koran-Islam's holy book, which contains the
teachings of Muhammad.
Islamic coins are dated on the Moslem calendar, not the western
calendar. The Islamic Era begins on the first day of the Arabic year in
which Muhammad's escape took place . . . 622 A.D. by the western calendar.
Silver dirhems are popular with collectors, because they represent the
very epitome of Islamic art. They're also quite affordable, with most
available for under $50 each.
This has been "Money Talks." Today's program was written by Kerry K.
Wetterstrom and underwritten by Whitman Coin Products, a division of Golden
Books, providing a choice of products for all levels of collecting. Take a
tour of ANA's virtual Money Museum on the Web at www.money.org."Money
Talks" is a copyrighted production of the American Numismatic Association,
818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903, 719/632-2646,
a...@money.org, http://www.money.org.