Standing Caliph Bronze Fals

The Standing Caliph: An Exception to the Rule

Before Abd al-Malik's aniconic reform of 696–697 AD, a brief series of coins depicted the Caliph himself — standing, wearing Arab robes, and holding a sword. These "Standing Caliph" coins are among the most historically important Islamic coins, representing the brief moment when figurative Islamic coinage existed.

This Coin

This bronze fals shows the Caliph standing facing, wearing a long robe and headdress, with his hand on the pommel of a sword. The reverse features a modified cross-on-steps design (borrowed from Byzantine coinage) with Arabic inscriptions. These coins were produced for only about two years before the purely epigraphic reform made them obsolete — making them rare witnesses to a pivotal moment in Islamic art and theology.