Mu’awiya I, Umayyad Caliph AH 41-60/AD 661-680

Walker B.3 var; SICA-1, 245-246; A 14, Extremely Fine

DA (Darabjird) mint. Arab-Sasanian Khusro II type, naming Mu’awiya in Pahlavi script, “bism Allah” in Arabic in obverse margin; reverse, fire altar with attendants, mint and date. Pahlavi “GM” monogram in reverse margin. This is the first Islamic coin from any region to cite the name of a caliph and the only known type that cites Mu’awiya. Rare and of great historical interest.

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The first Umayyad Caliph was Mu’awiya I (AH 41-60/ AD 681-680) who had been governor of Syria under the Rashidun. The Umayyad family claimed descent from Umayya ibn ‘Abd Shams, the brother of the Prophet Muhahammad’s paternal great-grandfather and were members of the Quraysh tribe. Syria remained the Umayyad power base with Damascus as their capital.