Lot #668: Rare Ummayad Anonymous One Fals (661 to 750 A.D.) - Kalimah ("Profession of Faith") - Arabic Script - Epigraphic (Text-Only) - Hammered Irregular Sha

Obverse: Features the first part of the Kalimah ("profession of faith") in early Kufic Arabic script: لا اله الا الله وحده ("There is no God but Allah, alone."). The script is angular and bold, characteristic of the early Umayyad period. Reverse: Features the second part of the Kalimah in early Kufic Arabic script: محمد رسول الله ("Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."). This side confirmed the authority of the Prophet and the religious legitimacy of the Caliphate. This Ummayad Anonymous One Fals coin is a truly remarkable piece of history. This Ummayad Anonymous One Fals coin goes back over 1,300 years to the Umayyad Caliphate, the second major caliphate established after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. This specific type of Ummayad Anonymous One Fals coin marks a pivotal moment in world history: the Post-Reform period under Caliph Abd al-Malik, when Islamic coinage moved away from imitating Byzantine or Sasanian imagery and transitioned to a purely epigraphic (text-only) design. In Islamic tradition, the use of human figures on coinage was eventually phased out. These "Anonymous" coins focused instead on the Shahada (the Islamic profession of faith), serving as both currency and a tool for spreading the message of the new empire. This Ummayad Anonymous One Fals coin was "hammered", meaning that it was struck by hand between two dies. This explains the irregular shape and the "off-center" strikes common with this era. The Umayyad Caliphate at this time stretched from Spain and North Africa in the west to India in the east. A copper fals was the smallest unit of currency, used for everyday purchases like bread or oil in the bustling markets of Damascus or Jerusalem. While gold Dinars and silver Dirhams were used for trade between nations, the Fals was the "coin of the people." This coin is the "ancestor" of the purely text-based designs found on Islamic coinage for the next millennium. Because these coins were "anonymous" (they do not name the specific Caliph or mint city), they are classified by their script style and small decorative elements (like circles or crescents). Dimensions: Bronze 18 mm 3 g Pickup category timeslot {A}