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Golden Dinar Dating Back to Umayyad Caliphate Put Up for Auction in London | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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London– Morton & Eden, Auctioneers of Coins, Medals and Paper Money are putting up for auction a rare coin which belongs to the era of Al-Walid who is an Umayyad Caliph that ruled from 705 AD until his death in 715AD. The valuable currency is estimated to be worth £300,000 Pound Sterling.

Located in Belgravia, a West London district, Director of Morton & Eden Ltd Auction Company Stephen Lloyd says that the very small coin needs a microscope to view the details of the writing. Mr. Lloyd further confirmed that pure gold was used in the making of such a piece, more so, the coinage was the best quality compared to that time.

The actioned Dinar (dinar is a main currency unit in modern circulation in nine mostly-Islamic countries, and has historic use in several more) is one of twelve very rare pieces. The unique artifacts are known for the exceptional style of coinage used in that time.

Most of the retrieved coins are kept in world-class museums such as the British Museum, National Library of France, and Qatar National Museum.

Mr. Lloyd notes that Morton & Eden Ltd Auction Company had sold a similar coin for a dashing £540,000 in 2011, and another deal was made for £280,000 in 1999.

The relic is considered to be one of the prototypes for metal coinage made after the year 77 Hijri– Islamic calendar, Hijri calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days.

The coin, made in 92 Hijri, shows writing from the Quran. Nonetheless, making it special to its likes is that the coin shows an additional phrase next to the Quran excerpts, “metal of Amir al-Mu’minin (Commander of the Faithful)”. The unique phrase indicates that the gold used in the making of the coin could possibly had been extracted from royalty-owned fields.

Mr. Lloyd also added that the coinage used in the auctioned piece is rare even to the time it was made, not many coins from the same period show the same design. The tool used to make the coin was a distinct one, which had not been frequently used.