Abbasid Silver Dirham — Coinage of the Islamic Golden Age

Own a Silver Coin from the Abbasid Caliphate

A genuine NGC-certified Abbasid silver dirham from the dynasty that ruled much of the Islamic world from AD 750 and presided over major developments in scholarship, commerce, administration, and culture.

✓ NGC Certified
✓ Guaranteed Authentic
✓ 30-Day Returns

📷 Coins shown are representative examples. You will receive one authentic NGC-certified Abbasid silver dirham. Each coin is unique and may vary in caliph, mint, date, strike, centering, toning, and preservation.

☪ Epigraphic silver coinage centered on Arabic religious and administrative inscriptions
🏛 Issued across the wide Abbasid monetary world, including many regional mints beyond Baghdad
🤲 A genuine silver coin from one of the most influential dynasties of the medieval Islamic world

Own This Piece of History

Why This Coin Matters

The Abbasid Caliphate came to power in AD 750 after overthrowing the Umayyad dynasty. In AD 762, Caliph al-Mansur founded Baghdad, which became the principal Abbasid capital and one of the great cities of the medieval world.

Baghdad became an important center of administration, scholarship, trade, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, literature, and translation. The broader Abbasid world also included many other major cities and intellectual centers, and the caliphate’s political authority changed substantially over its five-century history.

For that reason, a representative Abbasid dirham should not automatically be described as a coin 'from Baghdad' or as having been struck by a ruler physically governing from Baghdad. Abbasid silver was produced at numerous mints across a very large territory, and individual issues must be identified by their own inscriptions and attribution.

Abbasid dirhams are especially distinctive for their epigraphic design. Rather than relying on royal portraits, they generally emphasize Arabic inscriptions containing declarations of faith and, depending on the issue, mint names, dates, caliphal or other names, and additional administrative information.

It is therefore also too broad to say that every Abbasid dirham names the reigning caliph. The precise inscription varies by period and mint, so the slab attribution and the individual coin itself should govern the specific reading.

These silver dirhams circulated through extensive commercial networks reaching across the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and beyond. Hoards of Islamic silver found far outside the caliphate demonstrate the extraordinary geographic reach of medieval trade, although no individual specimen should be assumed to have traveled a particular route unless its provenance establishes that.

This coin offers an accessible connection to the Abbasid world without forcing every specimen into a single Baghdad-centered story.

Perfect For

• Collectors of Islamic and medieval coinage
• Students of the Abbasid Caliphate
• Collectors interested in Arabic epigraphy
• History enthusiasts interested in medieval trade and scholarship
• NGC-certified coin collectors

What You’ll Receive

• One authentic NGC-certified Abbasid silver dirham
• Civilization: Abbasid Caliphate
• Period: Abbasid era; exact date varies by specimen
• Denomination: AR Dirham
• Exact mint, date, and inscriptions vary
• NGC certified
• Guaranteed authentic

Buy with Confidence

• NGC certified
• Carefully sourced and attributed
• 30-day return policy
• Secure shipping from the U.S.

Learn More

Continue the story in the Kinzer Coins Journal: What Is a Dirham? The Silver Coin of the Islamic World.