5 Dirhams

ISIS began issuing physical coinage in 2015 as a deliberate ideological act — the group framed its own currency as a rejection of the "crusader" paper money system and a restoration of early Islamic monetary practice. The silver dirham denomination was modeled on weights from the Umayyad reform coinage of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the late 7th-century caliph who standardized Islamic silver across the caliphate. Whether these pieces ever circulated in any meaningful economic sense remains disputed; most examples appear to have left ISIS-held territory quickly, ending up with collectors, intelligence services, or journalists rather than in any functional market.