ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. AE Fals. Post-Reform Period. Authentic Ancient Coin

Islamic Caliphate, Umayyad dynasty
AE Fals (Bronze)
Undated, late Umayyad period (c. late 7th–early 8th century AD)
Weight: 2.23 g

Obverse: Lion standing right, a powerful emblem rendered in a bold provincial style.
Reverse: Standard post-reform Umayyad religious legend in Kufic script, as visible in the images.

This bronze fals belongs to the mature phase of Umayyad monetary production following the great Islamic coinage reforms initiated under Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān. After the reforms, figural imagery was largely removed from gold and silver, but bronze coinage remained a space where local symbols and regional identities survived, especially in frontier and provincial zones of Bilād al-Shām.

The lion motif is one of the most striking and historically charged images used on Umayyad bronze coinage. It likely functioned as a symbol of authority, protection, and dominion, resonating with earlier Near Eastern and Late Roman traditions where the lion represented power and rulership. In the Umayyad context, the lion may also reflect the dynasty’s self-image as guardians of order and strength during a period of rapid territorial expansion and internal consolidation.

Coins of this type are widely attributed by scholars to the Tabarīya (Tiberias) region, an important administrative and economic center in the early Islamic period, though the coin itself does not name a mint. The absence of a mint name is typical for many post-reform Umayyad bronzes, which relied instead on recognizable imagery and standardized religious formulae to communicate legitimacy.

These fals were everyday coins, used by soldiers, merchants, farmers, and pilgrims across the Umayyad realm. As such, they are among the most direct physical links to daily life in the early Islamic world, circulating at a time when Islamic governance, law, and identity were still being actively defined.

Reference: Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum, Tübingen IVa, 370; Walker 603.
Condition: Very Fine. Attractive black patina.
Authenticity: Guaranteed genuine ancient Islamic coin.