Persian Treasury
Denomination

The Dirham: a Persian numismatic guide

Silver dirhams — the currency of Islamic Iran and of the Silk Road silver trade. 6 catalogued examples spanning Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic.

Catalogued
6
Eras
1
Metals
2
Denominations
1

Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic · 651 – 1258 CE

Era overview →

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.

Saffarid Silver Dirham

Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar

861–879 CE

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Denominations here

Metals here