ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik, AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. Dinar (Gold, 19 mm, 4.27 g, 6 h), no mint stated, but probably struck in Damascus, dated AH 107 = 725/6 AD. Arabic inscription with Kalima. Rev. Arabic inscription including date written out in words; two dots on lower field. Album 136. ICV 201. Walker 227. One of the rarest of all the dates of the Umayyad gold series. Good very fine.

What happened in AH 107 = 725/6 AD? The Umayyad governor of al-Andalus, Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi, who died later in this year, captured Carcassonne, which remained in Arab hands until Pepin the Short threw them out in 759-760. Later in this year Leo III began the great Iconoclasm debate by forbidding the veneration of icons, leading to a controversy that wracked the Empire for over a hundred years. In addition, AH 107 was the year in which this coin was minted in Damascus.