First coin to record Islamic phrase 'There is no God but Allah' expected to sell in set of 56 gold dinars for £500,000 at auction
The first ever coin to record the
famous Islamic phrase 'There is no God but Allah' is set to sell for
hundreds of thousands of pounds when it goes under the hammer.
The historic gold dinar from 690 AD was minted in Damascus by the Umayyad dynasty - the first Arab empire, which stretched from Spain in the west to India in the east at the peak of its power.
The coin, which weighs 0.15oz and is slightly larger than a 5p piece, comes in a set of 56 gold dinars struck between 690 and 750 - expected to sell for £500,000 at auction next month.
Dated 77 in the Islamic calendar, the words written on the coin translate in English to: ‘No God but God, Unique, He has no associate.
‘Muhammad is the messenger of God who sent him with guidance and the religion of truth that he might make it supreme over all other religions. God is one, God is eternal. He does not beget nor is he begotten. In the name of God this dinar was struck in the year seven and 70.’
Andre Di Clement, head of Islamic coins at central London auctioneers Baldwin's, said: ‘What makes these coins so important is that they are from the first Arab empire.
‘With Umayyad the Islamic world
spread from India to Spain. One of the things they did was eradicate
coinage from conquered lands and introduce their own coinage systems.
‘These coins, and coins like these, would have been used to finance the building of the Umayyad empire. Each year a new coin was made.
‘At this time they were far more advanced than anybody else in the world. Although the first coin is worth £300,000 it comes as part of a set. It is one of the finest examples known.
‘This is the most sought-after Islamic coin out there, whose legends set the pattern for centuries to come. The coins were introduced at a period of expansion.
‘It was a military campaign, where they conquered and converted people to Islam. They used to create the coins by melting down coinage from those they had conquered.’
Mr Di Clement said: ‘He has children and grandchildren - none of whom are interested in the coins. He doesn't want them to be wasted so that's why he has put them up for sale.
‘He has been keeping them in a bank in recent years for security purposes, because of how much they are worth.’
The coins will be sold as part of a wider collection of Islamic coins by Baldwin's on May 9. A similar collection of dinar coins from the same period sold for just under £1million in Switzerland last year.
The historic gold dinar from 690 AD was minted in Damascus by the Umayyad dynasty - the first Arab empire, which stretched from Spain in the west to India in the east at the peak of its power.
The coin, which weighs 0.15oz and is slightly larger than a 5p piece, comes in a set of 56 gold dinars struck between 690 and 750 - expected to sell for £500,000 at auction next month.
Dated 77 in the Islamic calendar, the words written on the coin translate in English to: ‘No God but God, Unique, He has no associate.
‘Muhammad is the messenger of God who sent him with guidance and the religion of truth that he might make it supreme over all other religions. God is one, God is eternal. He does not beget nor is he begotten. In the name of God this dinar was struck in the year seven and 70.’
Andre Di Clement, head of Islamic coins at central London auctioneers Baldwin's, said: ‘What makes these coins so important is that they are from the first Arab empire.
Islamic faith: Muslims gather in the historical
Umayyad mosque in old Damascus city in September 2007. The historic gold
dinar from 690 AD was minted in Damascus by the Umayyad dynasty
‘These coins, and coins like these, would have been used to finance the building of the Umayyad empire. Each year a new coin was made.
‘At this time they were far more advanced than anybody else in the world. Although the first coin is worth £300,000 it comes as part of a set. It is one of the finest examples known.
‘This is the most sought-after Islamic coin out there, whose legends set the pattern for centuries to come. The coins were introduced at a period of expansion.
‘It was a military campaign, where they conquered and converted people to Islam. They used to create the coins by melting down coinage from those they had conquered.’
'These
coins, and coins like these, would have been used to finance the
building of the Umayyad empire. Each year a new coin was made. At this
time they were far more advanced than anybody else in the world'
The coins have been owned by the same
European collector, now in his 80s, for the last 35 years. He built up
the collection by attending auctions in the likes of Switzerland,
France, the U.S. and Britain.
Andre Di Clement, head of Islamic coins at central London auctioneers Baldwin's
Mr Di Clement said: ‘He has children and grandchildren - none of whom are interested in the coins. He doesn't want them to be wasted so that's why he has put them up for sale.
‘He has been keeping them in a bank in recent years for security purposes, because of how much they are worth.’
The coins will be sold as part of a wider collection of Islamic coins by Baldwin's on May 9. A similar collection of dinar coins from the same period sold for just under £1million in Switzerland last year.