The medieval Muslim gold coin first minted under Abd al-Malik that became a major Islamic currency was the dinar.
The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik introduced a distinctive Islamic gold coinage during monetary reforms around 696–697 CE. The gold dinar replaced earlier Byzantine-style coins that had circulated in the caliphate and carried Arabic inscriptions rather than portraits or Christian imagery.
The dinar’s name derives from the Roman denarius, while its weight was closely related to established Byzantine and Sasanian monetary standards. Its inscriptions included religious declarations and Quranic text, making the coin both a medium of exchange and a statement of political and religious authority.
The dinar was the gold denomination; the silver dirham and copper fals served different roles. Later Islamic states issued their own dinars, often varying in design and weight, so “dinar” describes a long-lived coin tradition rather than one unchanging coin from a single government.