The Coinage of the Islamic State

Abstract

The Islamic State announced in late 2014 that it would issue coins. Made of both precious
metals (gold and silver) and base metal, they were to replace the “worthless” paper currencies
of Syria and Iraq and the U.S. dollar. This article studies the Islamic background to this proposed
new currency, the justification for the use of precious metals, and the designs of the new coins
themselves and the messages that they are intended to propagate.