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Richard Plant is obviously no stranger to education. He starts with a basic chapter on numerals and dating and takes the reader through the world of Arabic coins step by step with easy to digest chapters, each concluded by a test that allows you to practice what you know (answers are in the back of the book). By using line drawings, he avoids distractions by imperfections on coins. The book is neither an Arabic language guide, nor a coin catalogue, but rather an instrument specially designed for the numismatically inclined, who need only a limited vocabulary, but one that contains words and phrases that are specific to coins. Once you have ploughed through the book, you wil not read Arabic fluently, but you can decipher key words and you are starting to understand the magnificent tradition of Islamic coins.