Obverse. Image Courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS.com)
  • 10 Pounds 1979, Sudan, 1400th Anniversary of the Islamic Calendar (Hijra)
  • 10 Pounds 1979, Sudan, 1400th Anniversary of the Islamic Calendar (Hijra)
Description

The Hijri calendar also known as the Lunar Hijri calendar and (in English) as the Islamic, Muslim or Arabic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual period of fasting and the proper time for the Hajj. In almost all countries where the predominant religion is Islam, the civil calendar is the Gregorian calendar, with Syriac month-names used in the Levant and Mesopotamia (Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine) but the religious calendar is the Hijri one.

This calendar enumerates the Hijri era, whose epoch was established as the Islamic New Year in 622 CE. During that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina and established the first Muslim community (ummah), an event commemorated as the Hijrah. In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH (Latin: Anno Hegirae, "in the year of the Hijrah"). In Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H from its Arabic form (سَنَة هِجْرِيَّة, abbreviated ھ). In English, years prior to the Hijra are denoted as BH ("Before the Hijra").

An essai is a type of trial strike, typically a non-circulating, non-legal tender coin with a slightly higher mintage than the usual pattern coin. This pattern without the word Essai.

Obverse

Depicts the national emblem of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1970–1985), denominations on both sides, country name between dates in Gregorian (left) and Islamic year (right) in Arabic numerals below. Inscription "15TH Hijrah Century" in Arabic above and "ISLAMIC WORLD 15 TH CENTURY" in English below.

The emblem shows a secretarybird bearing a shield from the time of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi who briefly ruled Sudan in the 19th century. Two scrolls are placed on the arms; the upper one displays the national motto, ("Victory is ours"), and the lower one displays the title of the state.

The secretarybird was chosen as a distinctively Sudanese and indigenous variant of the "Eagle of Saladin" and "Hawk of Quraish" seen in the emblems of some Arab states, and associated with Arab nationalism.

القرن الخامس عشر الهجري
النصر لنا
١٠ جنيهات LS. 10
جمهوريه السودان الديمقراطيه
١٩٧٩ SUDAN ١٤٠٠
ISLAMIC WORLD 15 TH CENTURY

Reverse

Depicts the Prophet's Mosque (Dome and Minaret of the mosque) in Madena and Masjid al-Haram (Minarets and Ka'aba) in Mecca between them stylized Islamic ornament, crescent below, the inscription "In the Name of Allah" above and "Muhammed", "Allah" below it.

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, known in English as The Prophet's Mosque, and also known as Al Haram Al Madani and Al Haram Al Nabawi by locals, is a mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the city of Medina in the Al Madinah Province of Saudi Arabia. It was the second mosque built by Muhammad in Medina, after Masjid Quba'a, and is now one of the largest mosques in the world. It is the second holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.

Masjid al-Haram (Arabic: اَلْمَسْجِدُ ٱلْحَرَامُ, lit. 'The Inviolable Mosque'), also known as the Great Mosque of Mecca, is a mosque that surrounds the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is a site of pilgrimage in the Hajj, which every Muslim must do at least once in their lives if able, and is also the main phase for the ʿUmrah, the lesser pilgrimage that can be undertaken any time of the year. The rites of both pilgrimages include circumambulating the Kaaba within the mosque. The Great Mosque includes other important significant sites, including the Black Stone, the Zamzam Well, Maqam Ibrahim, and the hills of Safa and Marwa.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الله محمد

Edge

10 Pounds

Democratic Republic, Silvered Brass Essai
KM#
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Silvered Brass
Weight -
Diameter -
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal

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