What metal and weight is the Saffarid Silver Dirham?

Silver, weighing approximately ~3.0 g.

Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic

Saffarid Silver Dirham

The 'Coppersmith' rose from a militia leader in Sistan to ruling Iran from Fars to Khorasan — founder of the Saffarid dynasty and a hero of Iranian self-rule against the Abbasids.

Key specifications for Saffarid Silver Dirham
Date	861–879 CE
Ruler / issuer	Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar
Mint	Sistan / Zaranj
Metal	Silver
Weight	~3.0 g
Era	Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic (651 – 1258 CE)
Region	Caliphate provinces of Iran

Obverse

Shahada in Kufic.

Reverse

Caliph's name with Ya'qub's titles in margin.

Historical context — Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic

Arab governors continued striking Sasanian-style drachms with added Arabic Kufic legends (bismillah). Abd al-Malik's reform (696/77 AH) introduced epigraphic-only Islamic coinage — the silver dirham and gold dinar.

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Frequently asked

What is the Saffarid Silver Dirham?: The 'Coppersmith' rose from a militia leader in Sistan to ruling Iran from Fars to Khorasan — founder of the Saffarid dynasty and a hero of Iranian self-rule against the Abbasids. It was struck in 861–879 CE at Sistan / Zaranj under Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar.
What metal and weight is it?: Silver, weighing approximately ~3.0 g.
What designs appear on it?: Obverse: Shahada in Kufic. Reverse: Caliph's name with Ya'qub's titles in margin.

Ilkhanid-era Silver Dirham

Citing Ghazan Khan as overlord

1296–1304 CE

Reformed coinage after Ghazan's conversion; bilingual issues.

Tahirid Silver Dirham

Tahir ibn Husayn

821–822 CE (AH 206)

Tahir founded the first quasi-independent Iranian Islamic dynasty in Khorasan (821–873), nominally loyal to the Abbasid caliph.

Buyid Silver Dirham

'Adud al-Dawla (Buyid)

AH 372 (982–983 CE)

The Buyids (934–1062) controlled the caliph in Baghdad while openly using Persian royal titulature on their coinage — a deliberate Iranian revival.

Great Mongol Dirham — Bukhara

Möngke Khan (in name of Great Khan)

AH 651–658 / 1253–1260 CE

Pre-Ilkhanate Mongol coinage of Iran and Transoxiana, struck before Hulagu's conversion of his line to a Persian-style sultanate. Image: related Ilkhanid dirham.

Qarakhanid Multiple Dirham — Samarqand

Qadir Khan Yusuf

AH 415–425 / 1024–1034 CE

First major Turkic Islamic dynasty east of the Oxus. Their billon dirhams reflect the chronic silver shortage ('silver famine') that plagued the eastern Islamic world from the late 10th century. Image: related Ghaznavid gold dinar.