Al-Andalus AH 110 dirham
This specimen was lot 1305 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 39 (Winter Park, FL, May 2026), where it sold for $2,400. The catalog description[1] noted,
"SPAIN (Al-Andalus), Umayyads, Governors (dependent emirate of Damascus), AR dirham, post-reform type of Abd al Malik, AH110 (728 AD), mint of al Andalus الأندلس, extremely rare, NGC AU 58, ex-Tonegawa, Frochoso Plate. Lightly toned, with lustrous interiors and fully readable inscriptions.
The earliest Islamic coinage struck in Arabia closely followed the monetary models of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. A major reform was introduced by the Umayyad caliph Abd al Malik in the late 7th century AD, transforming both the design and ideological function of Islamic coinage. The dirham emerged as a fully epigraphic type, eliminating figural imagery and establishing the characteristic Islamic monetary model. Its inscriptions consist primarily of religious formulas derived from the Qur’an, rendered in Kufic script, with the selected verses varying according to the intended message. Circular marginal inscriptions provide key administrative information, including mint and date of issue. Islamic coinage thus functioned not only as an instrument of economic exchange but also as a medium of ideological communication and state authority. Through their inscriptions, these coins disseminated core religious formulas of Islam while simultaneously proclaiming the legitimacy of the issuing authority, whether caliph, emir, or delegated governor.
In 711 Islam entered Hispania, initiating a rapid political and administrative transformation that included the adoption of the Islamic monetary system and the renaming of the territory as al Andalus. After a short period during which gold issues of Byzantine tradition circulated, the epigraphic dirham established under Abd al Malik was adopted as the principal silver denomination. Its typology remained remarkably stable, consistently preserving its purely epigraphic character. Islamic authority quickly consolidated in the peninsula under an emirate dependent on Damascus, with its capital at Córdoba, a phase commonly referred to in numismatics as the Period of the Governors.
The typological structure of these dirhams is essentially fixed. In Islamic numismatic terminology the obverse, designated First Area (IA), contains the Islamic profession of faith affirming the unity of God. The reverse, designated Second Area (IIA), records the prophetic mission of Muhammad.
- Obverse (IA)
Central inscription: لا اله الا الله وحده لا شرك له There is no god but God alone / He has no partner Marginal inscription: بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم بالأندلس سنة عشرة ومئة In the name of God. This dirham was struck in al Andalus in the year one hundred and ten.
- Reverse (IIA)
Central inscription: الله احد الله الصمد لم يلد و لم يولد و لم يكن له كفوا احد God is One, God is eternal. He neither begets nor is begotten, and there is none equal to Him. Marginal inscription: محمد رسول الله ارسله بالهدى و دين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله ولو كره المشركون Muhammad is the messenger of God. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to make it prevail over all religions, even though the polytheists may dislike it.
NGC #8437663-001. Pedigreed to the Tonegawa Collection (stated on label), Auction III (Aureo & Calicó 453, June 2025, lot 7), and plated in El Dirham Andalusí en el Emirato de Córdoba (2009), by Rafael Frochoso Sánchez."
An Arab army invaded Visigothic Spain in 711 AD and, finding little resistance, quickly conquered the whole peninsula except the northernmost mountains. Their attempts to also take France were defeated at the battle of Toulouse in 721 AD and again at the battle of Poitiers in 732. The Umayyad caliphate in Syria collapsed in 750 AD and a refugee prince, Abd al-Rahman, arrived in Spain in 755 AD and soon established himself as overlord of Spain. This dirham was struck while Spain was still nominally part of the Syrian caliphate.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 2.91 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-473, Vives-25; Frochoso-1.2 (this coin).
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing, Connor Falk and Sarah Sproles, Auction 39, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, featuring the Jorge Ugaz Collection of Lima Silver Cob 2 Reales and the Darby Collection of Guatemala Silver Cobs, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2026.
Links to:
- al-Andalus AH 117 dirham, Umayyad governors
- Coins and currency dated 728