Dinars and Dirhams: Coins of the Islamic Lands: The Early Period

The Nasser D. Khalili Collection, with it's more than 8,500 coins, ranks as one of the world's largest collections in the field of Islamic numismatics. The coins, include no less than 500 unpublished types in terms of date and mint. While these occur in the better-known categories, such as Abbasid dirhams, in some cases they represent completely new series, such as those of the emirs of 'Athbar in Arabia and the Najahid rulers of Zabid in Yemen. This volume also contains the largest group of Arab and Latin bilingual coins from North Africa. This catalogue, which is by the two leading specialists in the subject, is the first of two volumes devoted to the Collection's numismatic holdings and covers the first Islamic coins and the early medieval period. It provides three types of information: the obverse and reverse of each coin are illustrated in color; catalogue entries provide the requisite statistical information; and the essays at the beginning of each section place the coins in their historical context. Like the other 25 volumes in the series, which will make the entire Collection available to a wider public, it combines lavish production values with academic excellence.