ALKHOBAR, 29 March 2005 — Ghulam Ahmed toiled for 20 years as a naval supervisor not knowing he had a fortune in his own house.

A rare coin, a 1200-year-old square coin which reads in Arabic 203 Hijri and has the names of Muslim caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali. On the other side, it has the kalima, “La Ilaha Illallah” written on it. It gives no other detail as to what country it is from or what denomination.

Ghulam Ahmed’s newspaper reading habit proved to be rewarding. In Urdu News (Arab News’ sister publication) he read about how 200 and 300-year-old coins had fetched SR600,000-SR800,000.

This triggered memories of an old, beat up trunk that was lying forgotten in Ahmed’s village in Pakistan. In this trunk Ahmed had seen a square silver coin which read 203 Hijri....That made it 1,200 years old!

“My father and forefathers were mostly imams of mosques. They met a lot of people from faraway places too. I don’t know how long the coin has been in my family. But I remember seeing it even as a kid in a trunk that had old stuff from our great grandfather’s times. There was in fact another coin, but unfortunately it got lost. I have retrieved this one and am hoping to find out its true value.”

Ahmed’s colleague at work, Dr. Wajahat Faruqui tried to help establish the time period of the coin and its value. “I am not an expert, but I showed the coin to a couple of people, some of whom have an interest in history and coins, all of them seem to agree that it is authentic and rarest of rare coins most likely from the times of caliph Uthman. Some think it is from Syria.

We are all amateurs at this. I’m hoping that someone who reads this story in Arab News will be able to help Ahmed get the true recognition and value of his coin. I’m sure it’s worth a lot.”

Speaking to Arab News Ahmed said he hopes that his coin sells for a good price. “I am not a greedy man. I just want good education and decent marriages for three children. I would like to spend most of it on charity work and building a mosque.”

And just then Ahmed’s friend interjected saying, “My friend is a very kind man. Everyday for years he has been feeding the birds and buys one kilo of almonds every month to feed the ants. Perhaps all of them prayed for him.”

Ahmed can be contacted at: [email protected] or [email protected]