Raqqa: Coin Strikers

Date: 788-893

The mint of al-Rafīqa, the new urban foundation established to the west of Raqqa (known before the Islamic conquest as Kallinikos) produced coins during the eighth and ninth centuries. These included copper (fals), silver (dihram) and gold (dīnār) issues. The earliest come from the rule of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786-809), and date from 172/788-89. The last coin from the mint was a fals, dating to 279/892-93. See also: Copper beater; Blacksmith; goldsmith; silversmith.

Citation: Heidemann, Stefan, ‘Die frühe Münzprägung von ar-Raqqa/al-Rāfiqa als Dokumente zur Geschichte der Stadt’, in Stefan Heidemann and Andrea Becker (eds), Raqqa II: Die islamische Stadt (Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 2003), pp. 115-40.