For a long stretch of history, Man traded by barter before money was eventually invented. There is little agreement among scientists concerning the beginnings of money, the ‘how’, ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘why’ money came into existence and the way it developed over the centuries. Before Islam, the two great empires, Persia and Rome, struck their coins in silver, gold and copper. Indeed, for some time, the Muslims used the coins of these two empires, along with their own Dinars, Dirhams and Fils.

In the late first Century after the Higeria, specifically in the year 77 AH (696 AD), the Muslims minted their first own coins during the reign of the Umayyad Khalifah, Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan. The striking of Islamic coins continued in subsequent centuries in various countries and under various Islamic reigns.

Observers interested in the study of Islamic coinage have found that these coins shed light upon Islamic history and provided information that one cannot find in historical literature and documents. Indeed, those coins were used to establish facts and developments and rectify a number of common historical fallacies.