Coin

Art Historical Context

This copper coin, minted around 770–772 CE, offers a tangible glimpse into the early Abbasid Caliphate a pivotal era in Islamic history when Baghdad emerged as a vibrant center of culture and power. Produced during the reign of Caliph al-Mansur, who founded the Abbasid capital in 762 CE, such coins circulated widely across the expanding Islamic world, facilitating trade from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. As a humble yet essential artifact, it exemplifies the economic backbone of the empire, where copper denominations handled everyday transactions. In the Department of Islamic Art, this c...