Item number: A3614

Year: circa AD 750-1000

Material: Bronze

Size: 14.0 x 10.9 x 4.4 mm

Weight: 5.75 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a weight that was probably produced during the Abbasid period and was likely used for weighing coins.

The weight is brick-shaped. The obverse inscription appears to read “بسم” (bismi), and the reverse possibly “الله” (-llāh), which together form the phrase “In the name of God.”

The weight system of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates was inherited from the pre-Islamic Persian and Byzantine traditions, and it gradually became standardised and institutionalised in the course of Islamisation. Its fundamental units were the mithqāl and the dirham; the former was primarily employed for gold coinage and gold weighing, while the latter was used for silver coinage and market transactions. In the early Umayyad period, the weight of the Byzantine solidus was adopted, with one dīnār corresponding to approximately 4.25–4.30 grams, and two-thirds of that weight (around 2.85 grams) constituting one dirham. However, due to regional variation and practical requirements, some areas employed a seven-tenths mithqāl standard, resulting in a so-called “large dirham” of about 3.03 grams. By the mid-Abbasid period, religious and legal sources generally defined one mithqāl as 4.374 grams and one dirham as 2.916 grams, a system widely applied in official metrology and commercial exchange. Both caliphates also used the ratl as a larger unit, with the “great ratl” (ratl kabīr) equivalent to roughly 160 dirhams, or about 474 grams, serving as the official standard weight.

Overall, the Umayyad system remained regionally diverse, with several standards coexisting, whereas under the Abbasids a gradual unification took place, resulting in a centrally controlled legal framework. The approximate conversion relationships were maintained as follows: 1 dīnār = 1 mithqāl ≈ 4.3–4.4 g; 1 dirham = ⅔ mithqāl ≈ 2.9 g; 10 dirhams ≈ 29 g; and 160 dirhams = 1 ratl ≈ 474 g. This system not only underpinned the circulation of currency and commercial calculations but also reflected the Islamic world’s concern for precision in measurement and administrative order, forming the basis upon which later dynasties—such as the Fāṭimid, Ayyūbid, Mamlūk, and Ottoman Empires—continued to build and refine their economic frameworks throughout the medieval period.

物件編號: A3614

年代: 約公元 750-1000 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 14.0 x 10.9 x 4.4 mm

重量: 5.75 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能為阿拔斯王朝時期所鑄的砝碼，可能是用以權衡錢重。

砝碼的形制呈磚形。正面銘文可能是「بسم」(bismi)，背面銘文可能是「الله」(-llah)，合意為「以真主之名」

伍麥亞與阿拔斯王朝的重量制度承襲自前伊斯蘭時期的波斯與拜占庭傳統，並在伊斯蘭化的過程中逐漸標準化與制度化。其核心單位為「米斯卡爾」(mithqāl)與「迪拉姆」(dirham)，前者主要作為金幣與金秤單位，後者則用於銀幣與市場交易。伍麥亞王朝初期沿襲拜占庭金幣的重量，一枚第納爾(dīnār)相當於約4.25至4.30克，並以其三分之二(約2.85克)為一迪拉姆。然而，隨地區差異與實務需要，部分地區採用七分之十米斯卡爾的制式，形成約3.03克的「大迪拉姆」。至阿拔斯王朝中期，宗教與法典文獻中多採以4.374克為一米斯卡爾、2.916克為一迪拉姆的標準，此系統廣泛應用於朝廷度量衡與貿易往來。兩王朝皆以「拉特」(ratl)為更大單位，其中「大拉特」(ratl kabīr)約合160迪拉姆，重量約474克，被視為官方的秤重標準。整體而言，伍麥亞時期的制度仍顯多元，各地標準並存；而阿拔斯時期則逐步統一，形成中央主導的法定體系。其度量關係大致維持：1 dīnār = 1 mithqāl ≈ 4.3–4.4克；1 dirham = 2/3 mithqāl ≈ 2.9克；10 dirhams = 約29克；160 dirhams = 1 ratl ≈ 474克。這套體系不僅支撐了貨幣流通與商業計算，也反映出伊斯蘭世界對精密度量與行政秩序的重視，為後世法蒂瑪、埃宥布王朝、馬木留克與奧斯曼帝國所沿用與調整，成為中世紀伊斯蘭經濟體系的重要基礎。