ISLAMIC, Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Ghaznavids. Yamin al-Dawla Abu'l-Qasim Mahmud, AH 388-421 / AD 998-1030. Dinar (Gold, 25 mm, 4.17 g, 1 h), Ghazna, AH 407 = 1016/7. Citing the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Qadir billah (AH 381-422 / AD 991-1031), ‘ʿadl / lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / al-Qādir billāh’ (‘Justice. There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him. al-Qadir billah’ in Arabic); in the inner margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi Ghazna sana sabʿ wa arbaʿa miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dinar was struck in Ghazna in the year 407’ in Arabic); in the 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 / Yamīn al-Dawla / wa Amīn al-Milla / Abu’l-Qāsim’ (‘For Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Yamin al-Dawla wa Amin al-Milla Abu’l-Qasim’ 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 1607. Minor areas of weakness and with some light scratches, otherwise, good very fine.

From the Asha & Ardeshir Dabestani Collection, formed over the past four decades.