Fals - Isma'il b. Ahmad

Isma'il ibn Ahmad consolidated Samanid authority over Transoxiana and Khurasan by defeating the Saffarids at the Battle of the Balkh River in 900 AD, effectively making the Samanids the dominant power in the eastern caliphate. His copper fals coinage, issued from mints across the region, served the daily commercial needs of a prosperous urban economy built on the Silk Road trade passing through Bukhara and Samarkand.

Album 1444 covers a broad type with considerable mint and date variation — Zeno #17019 pins the specific attribution more narrowly.