Islamic Coin Forgery<br />Prepared by: Faculty Member Haider Jabbar Hassan<br />Al‑Mustaqbal University, College of Arts and Humanities<br />Email: [email protected]<br /><br />This article is presented within the framework of advancing Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education).<br /><br />Islam forbids deception in any form of interaction among people. The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned against engaging in deceit in general, saying, "Whoever deceives us is not one of us" (The Messenger of Allah spoke the truth). Coin forgery is considered a grave sin because coins serve as the standard for determining the value of goods and the basis for financial transactions. Forged coins have been subjected to fraudulent practices since very early times; it is reported that the oldest discovered forged metal coin dates back to approximately 450 BC. The issue of coin forgery is a very ancient one, affecting states and governments throughout their histories. The Islamic state was not exempt from this phenomenon, as Islamic coins were also subjected to forgery and fraud. Muslims have even given counterfeit coins various names, such as "al-zayf" (forgery) and "al-mubahraj" (the flamboyant).<br /><br />The types of forgery include:<br /><br />Ancient (Historical) Forgery:<br />a. Some rulers or entities minted counterfeit coins to destabilize the economy or finance wars.<br />b. Some non-Muslim governments imitated Islamic dinars for commercial purposes, as seen with the Vikings and the Crusaders.<br /><br />Modern Forgery:<br />a. This type aims to deceive coin collectors and museums, especially given the high prices of rare Islamic coins.<br />b. It is executed using advanced techniques that make it difficult to distinguish counterfeit coins from genuine ones.<br /><br />Hybrid Forgery:<br />a. This involves merging parts of genuine coins with counterfeit elements to create a coin that appears authentic but is historically inaccurate.<br /><br />Al‑Mustaqbal University – The Premier University in Iraq.