Hey Everyone!
I wanted to share with you a quick insight I found interesting about Islamic Coins!
Islamic coinage is nothing less than beauty. There are rarely depictions of Caliphs on the coin. Islamic coinage mainly consists of the creed of Islam. Nothing more, nothing less. The simplicity of this coin shows us a vital aspect of numismatists which we can determine from coins -
A coin describes its minter’s mien
There are many instances and evidences that prove this. For example, coins from the Roman Empire depict two main things on both sides. The obverse represents the emperor, usually in an effigy or portrait, with his divine title slithering around his face. The reverse typically shows either a God they affiliate themselves with, or a memorable feat they accomplished in their lives. This manifests itself in the personality of the minter. Roman emperors were commonly arrogant, and they would often commission statues affilitaing themselves with divinity. The Islamic Emperors, or Caliphs, on the other hand, were completely the opposite.
In the early times of Islam, when coin minting began during the Umayyad empire, the coins were very simple, as you see on the previous page. Early Islamic Caliphs lived very simple lives. They never had extraordinary feasts, or lavish parties. Sure, they comissinoned many beautiful mosques and palaces engraved with intricate and sophisticated calligraphy, like the Alhambra Palaces in Spain. However, these palaces were instituted to preserve the culture of Islam.
If we analyze the life of every Caliph in every empire of Islam, we will see that not one Caliph ever built a statue for himself. Nor did they ever associate themselves with divinity. This proves my point of their humility and simplicity based off their coin. However, after a couple centuries, the famous Islamic coinage stamp mark disseminated around the Empire. Even some evil and lavish Caliphs used this coin. So there is a miniscule margin of error. Generally speaking, most Caliphs were simple men who did not dare attempt to imitate the actions of the Romans.
To prove my point further, there are some accounts of extremely pious Caliphs who kept to themselves. Arguably the most famous pious Caliph, a religious leader who aimed to rule Islam as a theocracy with a theocritical mindset was Umar Ibn Abdul-Aziz. He was a devout muslim who spent more time alone in the isolation than in the Imperial Court. His wife narrates and recalls the story of his fear for Hell and Armageddon at night. He was so God-conscious, he would often weep at night in piety. In the morning before dusk, when the wife would wake up, she would often step in a puddle of some liquid, thinking it was her child who did that. However, she later found out it was the tears of Ibn Abdulaziz, and it was a trace and evidence of his life behind curtains.
Often, people overlook the fact that coins are not merely here to entertain our lives with its beauty. Coins are here to serve a purpose. Everything in life serves a purpose. It is us who must find that purpose. It is like Checkov’s gun in many books. Every small little detail an author has added in its books serves a purpose. So how can Checkov’s gun be applied in coins? That is an important discussion!
