EARLY MEDIEVAL COIN

Silver Coin fragment. Dirham of Harun Al-Rashid (789-809), as kindly identified by Paul Cannon, whose comment on the image presented here is rehearsed belowi The coin is broken across a drilled aperture of diameter 2mm.Paul Cannon kindly comments as follows: 'I believe this to be a fragment of an Abbasid period dirham. The coin was produced during the caliphate of Harun Al-Rashid [AH 170-193/ AD 786-809]. Instead of naming the ruler himself, the coin names his son and heir Mohammad (Al Amin). This coin also cites Ja'far, one of Rashid's viziers. Part of his name is clearly visible. For an example on line see http://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=83320 This site contains several others of the same type. The mint and date are absent from the fragment.Album type 219.9 [A Checklist of Islamic Coins by Stephen Album, 2nd Edition, 1998]'?Obverse description: Ornamented border; five angular characters below a horizontal feature.?Reverse description: Ornamented border which may include a broadsword motif; a stepped linear motif which incorporates an uncertain number of characters.Suggested date: Early Medieval, 800-950.Diameter (in excess of): 22.3mm, Weight: 1.05gms.