An Umayyad gold half-Dinar from the reign of Umar II (AD 717-720) probably Damascus, dated AH 100/ AD 718-719 with three lines of inscription in kufic surrounded by a band of inscription in kufic to each side, no mint, good extremely fine and rare. 16 mm. approx.; 2.13 g. Footnotes: See Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, Santa Rosa, 2011, no. 132A and Giulio Bernardi, Arabic Gold Coins Corpus, Trieste, 2010, no. 45. Inscriptions: the basmalah; a form of the shahadah and a shorter version of Qur'an, sura IX (al-tawbah), part of verse 33 with the added, 'Muhammad, the Messenger of God'. 'Umar ibn Abd'l al- Aziz was a learned and serious caliph and surrounded himself with great scholars. Under his rule he was responsible for strict reforms concerning alcohol, dress rules and fair dispensation of Zakat. He was also a great social reformer preventing state officials from business practices, use of unpaid labour and land reform. He was regarded as a true Muslim ruler, in contrast to many of his predecessors. Traditionally 'Umar was recognized as an authentic caliph, while other Umayyad rulers were viewed as kings. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com