Countermarks on Umayyad Post-Reform Copper Coins

Abstract

This article addresses a group of early Islamic countermarks mainly found on Umayyad
post-reform copper coins. The basic form is the Greek letter A. While several minor variants
exist, it is proposed here that they all mean the same, namely A, the Greek numeral for ‘one.’
Consequently, the countermarks were used to denote the value — as one fals — on the coins
to which they were applied. A possible clue to distinguishing Dimashq and Ḥims issues among
the earliest, post-reform fulūs with no mint indication is also discussed.