CNG Islamic Auction 1 by Classical Numismatic Group, LLC

May 25, 2022

CNG Islamic Auction 1 May 25, 2022

Islamic Auction 1

Classical Numismatic Group, LLC

Post Office Box 479, Lancaster, PA 17608-0479 • Tel: (717) 390-9194 Fax: (717) 390-9978 20 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QA • Tel: +44 (20) 7495 1888 Fax: +44 (20) 7499 5916 Email: cng@cngcoins.com • www.cngcoins.com

Classical Numismatic Group, LLC

CNG

CNG Classical Numismatic Group, LLC

Classical Numismatic Group, LLC (PA License Number AY002406) Jeffrey B. Rill (PA License No. AU006206; NYC License No. 2079118-DCA)

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CNG Islamic Auction 1 May 25, 2022

To Be Conducted Live Online at the CNG Lancaster Office

Featuring: An Exceptional Offering of Arab-Sasanian Drachms A North African Semissis with Two Facing Imperial Busts An Umayyad Dinar Dated AH 77 and other rare Umayyad Dinars An Extremely Rare Umayyad Dirham from Al-Niq A Fine Selection of Rare ‘Abbasid Gold Dinars A Unique Gold Dinar from Valencia, Spain A Fatimid Dinar of Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Shi‘i A Fatimid Dinar from ‘Asqalan Six Dinars from Oman A Durrani Gold Nazarana Mohur A Unique Indian Silver Rupee from Awadh, Struck During the Indian Rebellion of 1857

CNG Classical Numismatic Group, LLC

United States Office: PO Box 479, Lancaster, PA 17608-0479, U.S.A. Tel: (717) 390-9194 Fax: (717) 390-9978

United Kingdom Office: 20 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QA, U.K. Tel: +44 (20) 7495 1888 Fax: +44 (20) 7499 5916

Email: cng@cngcoins.com

Website: www.cngcoins.com Pennsylvania License Number AY002406

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Grading Conditions English

Proof Mint State/Uncirculated Extremely Fine (EF) Very Fine (VF) Fine Good/Fair

Deutsch

Common Abbreviations AD Æ AE AH AR AV BBS BC BCE

Français

Polierte Platte Stempelglanz Vorzüglich Sehr Schön Schön Gut

BE BI CE Cf. c/m CY EL FPL g

Anno Domini Bronze Actian Era Anno Hegirae Silver Gold Buy or Bid Sale Before Christ Before the Common Era

Flan Bruni Fleur de Coin Superbe Très Beau Beau Bien

IY MBS mm PB p. pl. PYE RY SE

Bithynio-Pontic Era Billon Common Era Confer (compare) Countermark Civic Year (Era) Electrum Fixed Price List Gram

Italiano

Fondo Specchio Fior di Conio Splendido Bellissimo Molto Bello Bello

Indictional Year Mail Bid Sale Mintmark Lead Page Plate Post Yazdigerd Era Regnal Year Seleukid Era

See Bibliography on our website, www.cngcoins.com, for a complete list of reference abbreviations.

Bank Accounts Beneficiary: Classical Numismatic Group, LLC US$ Account:

€ Account:

PNC Bank, N.A. 249 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15222 Account Number: 5005069595 ABA Number: 031000053 BIC or SWIFT: PNCCUS33

£ Account:

HSBC Bank plc 60 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4TR Account Number: 84309198 Sort code: 40 12 76 IBAN: GB82HBUK40127684309198

HSBC Bank plc 60 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4TR Account Number: 71170910 Sort code: 40 11 60 IBAN: GB45HBUK40116071170910

BIC or SWIFT: HBUKGB4B BIC or SWIFT: HBUKGB4B

Classical Numismatic Group, LLC is a United States limited company. Auction license number AY002406. United Kingdom Registration No. FC035702, Branch No. BR020787. All lots in this auction were in the possession of CNG in CNG’s Lancaster, Pennsylvania office no later than 25 May 2022. This information is provided for the protection of buyers in the event that US import restrictions are introduced subsequent to that date on any of the types of coins that are included in this auction.

Notice Regarding “Slabs”

Coins that have been encapsulated (“slabbed”) by a grading and/or authentication service may not be returned for any reason, including authenticity, if they have been removed from the encapsulation (“slab”).

Acknowledgement CNG would like to thank Jan Moens (jan.moens@bvdmc.com) for creating and providing the Numismatica Medievalis font used in this sale.

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AUCTION TERMS This is a public, mail bid, and internet auction conducted by Classical Numismatic Group, LLC (CNG). Bidding in the auction constitutes acceptance of the following terms: 1. The property listed in this catalogue is offered for sale by CNG for itself and as agent for various owners and other consignors. We reserve the right to reject any bid, to determine the opening price, to set bidding increments, to vary the order of the auction, to reopen bidding in the case of a dispute, to withdraw any lot, to bid on behalf of CNG, to bid on behalf of the consignor, to permit the auctioneer to bid on his own behalf, and to permit the consignor to bid on his own lots. CNG may loan or advance money to consignors or prospective bidders, and may have an interest other than commission charges in any lot. CNG may bid on its own account as an “insider” with information not available to the public. 2. A buyer’s fee will be charged to all successful bidders as follows on the hammer price: A. 22.5% for written, fax, email, telephone, and live internet bids. B. 20% for floor bids placed in person at the auction and electronic bids placed directly on cngcoins.com. All written bids, email bids, non-live telephone bids, live internet bid registrations, and live telephone bid registrations must be received before 5PM Eastern time on the day before the auction begins. CNG reserves the right to change the format of cngcoins.com at any time. 3. All coins are guaranteed genuine. Attribution, date, condition, and other descriptions are the opinion of the cataloguer, and no warranty is expressed or implied. Please note that an auction sale is not an approval sale. Lots examined prior to the sale and lots purchased by floor bidders (including bidders executing commission bids on behalf of other parties) may not be returned for any reason except lack of authenticity. All claims of misdescription and all claims of return, except claims regarding authenticity, must be made within 5 days of receipt of material. Any claim of lack of authenticity must be made in writing by the original purchaser immediately after discovery that an item is not authentic, and upon making such a claim the original purchaser must immediately return the lot to CNG in the same condition as at the time of the auction. Coins that have been encapsulated (“slabbed”) by a grading and/or authentication service may not be returned for any reason, including authenticity, if they have been removed from the encapsulation (“slab”). If payment is made by credit card, rights of return are governed by these Auction Terms which supercede any rights of return promulgated by the card issuer. Estimates are intended as a guide only and not as a statement of opinion of value. 4. Invoices are due and payable immediately upon receipt. Interest and late fees of 2.0% per month, or at the highest rate permitted by law, whichever is less, from the date of the auction, shall be payable on invoices not settled within 30 days of the auction date. Payment may be made by check or bank wire. Credit cards (Visa or MasterCard) will be accepted; credit card payments will not be accepted more than 14 days after the sale date. Payment by credit card for printed sale auctions will be charged a 2.5% handling fee. Payment by check must be made in either US dollars ($) drawn on a US bank or British sterling (£) drawn on a British bank. All successful bidders outside North America and the United Kingdom will be charged an additional $20 fee for bank charges that are the result of international wire transfer fees; this fee will be deducted for credit card or check payment as described above. CNG may reduce or compromise any charge or fee at its discretion. 5. Bidders not known to us must provide us with satisfactory credit references or pay a deposit as determined at CNG’s discretion before bidding. Minors are not permitted to bid without written consent of a parent guaranteeing payment. CNG may require payment in full from any bidder prior to delivery of lots. Title does not pass until lots are paid in full. Upon receipt of lots, the buyer assumes full responsibility for loss or damage. Delivery to the buyer’s address of record shall constitute receipt by the buyer regardless of the identity of the person accepting delivery.

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6. Estimates are in U.S. dollars ($US) and bids must be in even dollar ($) amounts. CNG will execute mail bids on behalf of mail bidders. Subject to reserves and opening prices, mail bids will be executed at one bidding increment (approximately 10%) over the next highest bid. In the case of identical bids, the earliest bid wins. A mail bid has priority over an identical floor bid. Bid by lot number. No lots will be broken. Bidders are responsible for errors in bidding. Check your bid sheet carefully. 7. All lots are subject to reserve unless otherwise indicated. Ordinarily lots are reserved at 60% of estimate. 8. Bidders personally guarantee payment for their successful bids, including bidders executing commission bids from other parties and bidders representing corporations or other entities. Buyers accepting commission bids from other parties do so at their own risk and remain responsible for payment under these Auction Terms. 9. At the conclusion of bidding for each lot, the sale contract is concluded and the successful bidder becomes liable for immediate payment under these Auction Terms. In the event a successful bidder fails to make full payment within 30 days of the auction date, CNG reserves the right either: (a) to require payment as provided under these Auction Terms; or (b) to deem the sale incomplete and to re-auction the material, in which case the successful bidder agrees to pay for the reasonable cost of such a sale and also to pay any shortfall between the re-auction price and the successful bidder’s purchase price. CNG reserves all rights that it is entitled to under the Pennsylvania Uniform Commercial Code, including the right to offset any sums due from a successful bidder against any future consignment or purchase or monies or goods in possession of CNG. 10. Sales tax, postage, handling and insurance are the responsibility of the buyer and are added to all invoices where appropriate. For clients wishing to collect their purchases from our London office, CNG may import lots into the United Kingdom and charge buyers the import Value Added Tax. On any tax not paid by the purchaser which should have been paid, even if not invoiced by CNG, the purchaser agrees to pay the same on demand together with any interest or penalty that may be assessed. It is the responsibility of the buyer to comply with foreign customs and other regulations. 11. Prices realized are published after the sale and are mailed with CNG’s next publication. Prices realized are also posted after the sale on CNG’s web site: cngcoins.com 12. Bidders hereby waive any claim for incidental, consequential or exemplary damages arising from this auction. The sole remedy that any participant in the auction shall have for any claim or controversy arising out of the auction shall be a refund, without interest, of all or part of the purchase price paid by the participant. 13. All rights granted by CNG or otherwise available to bidders and purchasers, under these Auction Terms or otherwise, are personal and may not be assigned or transferred to any other person or entity, whether by operation of law or otherwise. No third party may rely on any benefit or right conferred by these Auction Terms. Bidders acting as agents must disclose the agency in writing to CNG prior to the auction; otherwise rights are limited to the agent and are not transferable to the undisclosed principal. 14. Any dispute regarding this auction shall be governed by the laws of Pennsylvania and shall be adjudicated only by the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas or the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; all bidders submit themselves to the personal jurisdiction of these courts for this purpose, consent to service of process by registered or certified mail, and waive any contrary provisions of Articles 14 or 15 of the French Civil Code and any similar provisions in any jurisdiction. All bidders consent to the confidentiality of consignors’ identities and waive any right to require disclosure of the name of the consignor or owner of any auction lot, whether such right is based on any provision in any jurisdiction. In any dispute regarding this auction, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its reasonable costs and attorney fees.

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Meet the Team

Mike Gasvoda

Victor England

Eric McFadden

Dave Michaels

Steve Pruzinsky

Ken McDevitt

Bill Dalzell

David Guest

Paul Hill

Bradley R. Nelson

D. Scott VanHorn

Caroline Holmes

Jeffrey B. Rill

Lance Hickman

Tom Mullally

Steve Lloyd

Julian Okun-Dubitsky Travis Markel

Dylan Ossman

Alexandra Spyra

Managing Director Lancaster Office

Managing Numismatist Sale Development Lancaster Office

Senior Numismatist Lancaster Office

Numismatist Islamic Specialist London Office

Consulting Director Lancaster Office

Managing Numismatist Cataloging Staff Lancaster Office

Numismatist London Office

Numismatist Lancaster Office

Consulting Director London Office

Managing Numismatist London Office

Numismatist Lancaster Office

Manager IT & Production Lancaster Office

Director Shows & Consignments Lancaster Office

Managing Numismatist London Office

Numismatist Lancaster Office

Office Manager Lancaster Office

Chief Financial Officer Lancaster Office

Senior Numismatist Lancaster Office

Numismatist Lancaster Office

Office Manager London Office

Additional Support IT Consultant A.J. Gatlin

Sharon Pruzinsky Accounting Lancaster Office

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Kate Rill

Customer Relations Manager Lancaster Office

Julia Motter

Office Staff Lancaster Office

Auctioneers Jeffrey B. Rill PA License No. AU006206 NYC License No. 2079118-DCA Brian Callahan PA License No. AU005870 NYC License No. 2101904-DCA

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Important Notice of Changes Due to the continuing situation regarding the novel coronavirus COVID-19, governments may change restrictions upon public gatherings and travel. It is therefore possible that all of the information below, regarding venue, lot viewing, and lot pickup, as well as the terms of sale listed above, may change. CNG will communicate any changes via email and social media (Facebook and Twitter).

Lot Viewing London

Auction lots may be viewed at our London Office until May 13, 2022, by appointment only. London Office Hours: 10 AM - 5 PM (Monday - Friday). Clients wishing to view lots after this date are invited to contact us directly.

Online Viewing Enlargements of all single lots and selected multiple lots may be viewed on the internet at

CNGCOINS.COM SIXBID.COM NumisBids.com

We are sorry, but photographs of individual coins in multiple lots cannot be provided.

Auction Location This Sale will be conducted live Online from our Lancaster, PA Office

Lot Pickup Lots will be mailed from our Lancaster, PA Office subsequent to the sale

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ORDER OF SALE Wednesday Morning – May 25 – 10:00 AM Arab-Sasanian Coinage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–53 Arab-Byzantine and Arab-Latin Coinage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54–60 Umayyad Caliphate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61–99 ‘Abbasid Tabaristan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100–107 ‘Abbasid Caliphate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108–137 Spain and North Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138–158 Tulunids, Ikhshidids, Fatimids, Ayyubids and Mamluks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159–180

The Mint of ‘Uman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181–186 Samanids, Buwayhids and Kakwayhids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187–195 Seljuks, Atabegs, Danishmendids, Zangids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196–207 Post-Mongol Dynasties, Ottoman Empire and the East. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208–221 India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222–224

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 — 10 AM

Time of the Rashidun. AH 31-41 / AD 651-661. ‘Abdallah (b. Amir?). AR Drachm (31.3mm, 3.32g, 9h). ShY (Shiraz) mint. Dated YE 25 = AH 37 / AD 657/8. Obverse margin: - / APD / ⊙ / - / Cf. Malek 1244-5. Apparently a plated piece with small patches of the copper core visible on both sides. Good VF. Rare. ($300)

2:1

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu’awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan. AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. ‘Abdallah b. ‘Amir. AH 41-44 / AD 661-4. Uniface dirham weight (11.1mm, 2.69 g). al-amir ‘Abd / Allah ibn ‘Amir in two lines, traces of square frame around. Dark green patina. VF. Extremely rare.

($3000)

‘Abdallah b. Amir b. Kurayz was a maternal cousin of the caliph ‘Uthman, under whom he served as Governor of Basra from AH 29-35. He was later appointed Governor of Makka, a position he held from AH 35-36. During the civil war he supported the cause of Mu‘awiya b. Abi Sufyan, and on becoming caliph Mu‘awiya reappointed ‘Abdallah b. Amir to the governorship of Basra. He was dismissed from this post in AH 44 and appears to have retired from public life thereafter, dying in AH 53. Arab-Sasanian drachms naming ‘Abdallah b. Amir were struck at a number of mints during his second governorship of Basra, all of which bear a version of his name in Pahlawi. This weight appears to be the earliest object to bear the name of this important figure - a relative of one of the rashidun - written in Arabic script. A lead seal recording Mu‘awiya’s removal of ‘Abdallah b. Amir from the governorship of Basra was offered at auction in London (Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 19, 25 April 2012, lot 5, estimate £250,000-300,000).

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu’awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan. AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Khusraw II type. AR Drachm (33.1mm, 3.81g, 2h). YZ (Yazd) mint. Dated AH 47 / AD 667/8. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / rabbi / Malek 1301. Obverse graffiti. Good VF. Scarce.

($150)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1006.

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4 4.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu’awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan. AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Al-Hakam b. Abi al-‘As. AH 53-58 / AD 673-677. AR Drachm (31.7mm, 4.13g, 9h). BN (Bamm?) mint. Dated AH 53 / AD 673. Obverse margin: - / bismillah rabb al-hukm / - / Malek 227. Cleaned. Near EF. ($750)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu’awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan. AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Al-Hakam b. Abi al-‘As. AH 53-58 / AD 673-677. AR Drachm (32.2mm, 4.10g, 8h). NAWGY (New Jiruft?) mint. Dated AH 57 / AD 676/7. Obverse margin: - / bismillah rabb al-hukm / - / Malek p. 193. Cleaned. Near EF. Very rare. ($500)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Yazid I ibn Mu’awiya. AH 60-64 / AD 680-683. ‘Ubaydallah b. Ziyad. AH 54-64 / AD 673-683. AR Drachm (33.4mm, 4.16g, 9h). AKWLA (Aqola/Kufa) mint. Dated AH 62 / AD 681/2. Obverse margin: - / APD / billah rabbi / Malek p. 93, citing a single specimen of this variety. Cleaned. EF. Very rare. ($500)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Yazid I ibn Mu’awiya. AH 60-64 / AD 680-683. ‘Ubaydallah b. Ziyad. AH 54-64 / AD 673-683. AR Drachm (32.1mm, 4.13g, 9h). AYRAN APZWT K mint. Dated AH 63 / AD 682/3. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∴ / - / - . Cleaned. EF. Unpublished and apparently unique. ($2000)

The word APZWT is not a mint-name but a word meaning ‘increased’. It is commonly found on late Sasanian drachms as part of the formula GDH APZWT, meaning ‘the royal glory has been increased’. Coins bearing the word APZWT-K where the mint-signature is normally placed are known for ‘Ubaydallah b. Ziyad only (Malek 7.1), and it has been suggested that the -K suffix may denote a location somewhere in Kirman. However, the present coin precedes APZWT-K with the mint-name AYRAN, which on the basis of sigillographic evidence is generally assumed to be an abbreviation for Eran-asan-kar-Kavad, ‘Kavad has made Eran peaceful’, which was the formal name of the city of Hulwan in Jibal.

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Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu’awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan. AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. ‘Ubaydallah b. Ziyad. AH 54-64 / AD 673-683. AR Drachm (30.1mm, 4.17g, 3h). DA (Darabjird) mint. Dated YE 43 = AH 55 / AD 675. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∴ / ∴ / Reverse margin: GM monogram at 12:30h. Malek 404. EF. ($200)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Al-Harith b. ‘Abdallah. AH 64-65 / AD 683-4. AR Drachm (27mm, 2.50g, 2h). SYWKAN mint (location uncertain). Dated AH 65 / AD 684/5. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / rabbuna / Reverse margin: pellet at 12:30h. Malek 1226. Cleaned, clipped in antiquity. VF. Extremely rare. ($750)

10.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abdallah b. al-Zubayr. AH 60-73 / AD 680-692. AR Drachm (29.5mm, 4.15g, 4h). DA-GH (Jahrom) mint. Dated YE 60 = AH 72 / AD 691/2. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ - / Malek 473. Minor staining. EF. ($100)

11.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abdallah b. al-Zubayr. AH 60-73 / AD 680-692. AR Drachm (29.2mm, 3.94g, 10h). DA+P (Fasa) mint. Dated YE 60 = AH 72 / AD 691/2. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ - / - / Reverse margin: pellet at 11h. Malek 504. Faint Arabic graffiti in reverse margin. Good VF. ($100)

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12 12.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abdallah b. Khazim. Circa AH 62-72 / AD 682-692. AR Drachm (31.8mm, 4.10g, 12h). APRShT (Abrashahr) mint. Dated AH 67 / AD 686/7. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ - / Malek 35. Attractively toned, faint pin marks in margins. EF. Rare. ($250)

Ex Dix, Noonan & Webb (London) Auction 182 (16 September 2020), lot 627 and Peus (Frankfurt) Auction 363 (26 April 2000), lot 5606.

13.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abd al-Malik b. ‘Abdallah. AH 66-7 / AD 685-6. AR Drachm (32.9mm, 4.04g, 9h). BYSh (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 66 / AD 685/6. Obverse margin: - / bismillah:: / Muhammad rasul / Allah Malek 307. Cleaned. EF. Rare. ($500)

14.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Umar b. ‘Ubaydallah. AH 67-72 / AD 686-691. AR Drachm (30.4mm, 4.07g, 3h). BYSh (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 69 / AD 688/9. Obverse margin: - / lillah al-hamd :: / - / Malek 314. Tooled in first quadrant of obverse margin. Near EF. ($100)

15.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Umar b. ‘Ubaydallah. AH 67-72 / AD 686-691. AR Drachm (31.5mm, 4.00g, 2h). ST (Istakhr) mint. Dated AH 68 / AD 687/8. Obverse margin: - / lillah al-hamd :: / - / Malek 1197 (same obverse die). Choice EF. Scarce. ($150)

Ex Robert Silverman Collection (Stephen Album Rare Coins Auction 38, 24 September 2020), lot 144.

16.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Humran b. Aban. AH 72 / AD 691/2. AR Drachm (31.6mm, 3.87g, 6h). ART (Ardashir Khurra) mint. Dated AH 72 / AD 691/2. Obverse margin: - / bismillah :: / - / Malek 86. Minor deposit. EF. Rare. ($750)

Ex Baldwin’s of St James’s (London) auction 57, 14 April 2021, lot 362

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17 17.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Khalid b. ‘Abdallah. Circa AH 73-75 / AD 692-4) AR Drachm (31mm, 3.88g, 12h). BYSh (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 74. Obverse margin: - / bismillah :: / Muhammad rasul Allah / Reverse margin: pellets at 7 and 12 o’clock. Malek 325. Toned. EF. Scarce. ($250)

Ex Baldwin’s (London) Islamic Coin Auction 5 (15 October 2002), lot 33.

18.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Atiya b. al-Aswad. Circa. AH 70-77 / AD 689-696. AR Drachm (31.3mm, 4.03g, 9h). KRMAN-GY (Jiruft) mint. AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / bismillah wali al-amr / - / Malek 709. Cleaned, obverse somewhat rough. Near EF. Scarce. ($300)

19.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Abdallah. Circa AH 79 /AD 698/9. AR Drachm (28.5mm, 3.10g, 8h). AKWLA (Aqola, near Kufa) mint. Dated AH 79 / AD 698/9. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / - / Reverse: date written in Pahlawi numerals. Malek -; SICA 1, 6; Album A28 RRR. Stained. Near VF. Extremely rare. ($2000)

On the reverse of this extremely rare type the mint-signature and date are transposed, so that the mint appears on the left and the date on the right. The date is written entirely in Pahlawi numerals and is to be read as ‘70+3+3+3’, i.e AH 79.

20.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abdallah b. Umayya. Circa AH 74-77 / AD 693-696. AR Drachm (33.4mm, 3.29g, 4h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 76 / AD 695/6. Obverse margin: MY / bismillah / al-‘izza lillah / Cf Malek 1011 (dated AH 75). Cracked and repaired across reverse. Near VF. An extremely rare date. ($250)

Ex Baldwin’s (London) Auction 83 (24 September 2013), lot 4992.

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21.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Yazid b. al-Muhallab. AH 78 / AD 697/8. AR Drachm (30mm, 4.08g, 9h). KRMAN-GY (Jiruft) mint. Dated AH 78 / AD 697/8. Obverse margin: - / quwwa Yazid billah / - / Malek p. 78. Cleaned. Superb EF. Very rare. ($1500)

22.

Umayyad Caliphate. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Drachm (32.5mm, 4.05g, 4h). Struck in the caliph’s name. DA (Darabjird) mint. Dated YE 64 = AH 76 / AD 695/6. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ - / Malek 455. Minor marks. Good VF. Rare. ($300)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1009.

23.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Anonymous. AR Drachm (31.0mm, 4.14g, 9h). KRMAN-GRM (Garmshir) mint. Dated AH 70 / AD 689/90. Obverse margin: - / bismillah wali / al-amr / MHMT PGTAMYY DAT, ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’, before bust in place of governor’s name. Malek p. 151; SCC 123. Cleaned. Near EF. Extremely rare. ($5000)

This remarkable type, on which the governor’s name is replaced by a Pahlawi version of the Arabic Muhammad rasul Allah, is only known for drachms issued at GRM-KRMAN in this year. Coins were struck in Garmshir citing ‘Abdallah b. al-Zubayr from AH 65-70, and in the name of ‘Atiya b. al-Aswad between AH 70 and AH 72, and these anonymous types were apparently issued during a brief interregnum between the two. It appears that the obverse die on this coin was modified during its lifetime, with the second part of the marginal legend changed to read wali al-amr. Only traces of the undertype are visible, but it appears to be consistent with the Pahlawi BPL - GDH legend seen on coins of Ibn al-Zubayr. A similar change is visible on another specimen, struck from different dies (The New York Sale XIV, 10 January 2007, lot 498). This suggests that the first of these anonymous drachms may have been issued by adherents of Ibn al-Zubayr, but as they lacked his name it was felt acceptable for ‘Atiya b. al-Aswad to continue using the dies on his becoming governor, subject to this small modification of the obverse. These extremely rare drachms represent a further development in the move towards a distinctly Islamic coinage, with the names of all secular rulers now removed.

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Three Important Transitional Drachms The Umayyad Caliphate stretched across former Byzantine provinces in the West and territory captured from the Sasanians in the East, uniting these culturally distinct regions for the first time in their history. However, the Eastern and Western halves of this new empire retained many of their own traditions of language, culture and government. During the years of conquest the Arabs had been largely content to retain the administrative systems and structures of the lands they conquered, but as the focus of the new Islamic state began to shift from conquest to consolidation, it became increasingly important to develop a single, unified system of government which could run throughout the Islamic world. This pragmatic approach also extended to the coinage. The Sasanians had produced an almost exclusively silver coinage based on the drachm, while the Byzantines mainly struck gold solidi and copper folles with silver coins issued only sporadically. The Arabs modified the legends on Sasanian drachms, identifiying them as a distinctively Islamic coinage, but left the general appearance of the coins largely unchanged for some forty years. Copies of Byzantine folles were also produced in considerable quantities, again with only minor alterations to their prototypes. Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, had formerly been part of the Byzantine empire. It had no tradition of producing a silver coinage, but by the 70s/690s the plentiful influx of silver in tax revenues from the former Sasanian lands made it necessary for a mint in the capital to be able to do so. By the end of the decade, the caliph ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwan had introduced a completely new and distinctively Islamic previous metal coinage. Gold dinars and silver dirhams of standard and uniform design would be struck at Damascus from the coinage’s inception until the fall of the dynasty in AH 132 / AD 750. But in AH 72 / AD 691/2, when the very first Islamic silver coins were struck in the Umayyad capital, these great developments still lay in the future. Instead, the Umayyads naturally looked back to the well-established Sasanian drachms when introducing the first Islamic silver coinage at Damascus. The three coins offered here (lots 24-26) represent an exceptional opportunity to acquire an example from each of the first three years of this new and historically important coinage. Their design and legends demonstrate clearly why the Umayyads would soon feel it necessary to abandon Byzantine and Sasanian prototypes and start afresh. Unlike other Arab-Sasanian silver then being issued, these Damascus drachms bear the mint-name and date written in Arabic. However, all three coins still bear the name and image of the Sasanian emperor Khusraw II, who had died more than sixty years previously and who had never ruled in Damascus. Moreover, Khusraw’s name is written in Pahlawi, which neither the Arabic-speaking Umayyads nor the local Syrian population would have been able to read. These transitional drachms are extremely rare survivors from this experimental period when the Umayyads were vainly searching for a compromise between the Sasanian tradition and the Islamic future.

24.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Drachm (32.5mm, 3.38g, 3h). Dimashq mint. Dated AH 72 / AD 691/2. Obverse: - / bismillah / Muhammad rasul / Allah in margin; name of Khusraw in Pahlawi before bust. Reverse: Dimashq to left, with pellet above ‘m’; date ithnayn wa saba‘in in Arabic to right. Malek 524. Some staining on obverse and pin-marks in margins. VF. Extremely rare, the first Islamic silver coin to bear a date written in Arabic. ($15,000) 13

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25.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Drachm (31.5mm, 3.16g, 3h). Dimashq mint. Dated AH 73 / AD 692/3. Obverse: bismillah / la ilaha illa Allah wa- / hdahu Muhammad ra- / sul Allah in margin; name of Khusraw in Pahlawi before bust. Reverse: Dimashq to left, with pellet above ‘m’; date thalath wa saba‘in in Arabic to right. Malek 525. Small edge chip (offered with fragment). Good VF. Extremely rare. ($15,000)

26.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Drachm (31.7mm, 3.30g, 3h). Dimashq mint. Dated AH 74 / AD 693/4. Obverse: bismillah / la ilaha illa Allah / wahdahu Muhammad ra- / sul Allah in margin; name of Khusraw in Pahlawi before bust Reverse: Dimashq to left, with pellet above ‘m’; date arba‘ wa saba‘in in Arabic to right. Malek 526 var. (different spacing of obverse marginal legend, unit of date ends with ta marbuta). Some deposit. Good VF. Extremely rare. ($15,000) 14

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27.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. AH 69-79 / AD 688-698. AR Drachm (31.8mm, 4.14g, 3h). ART (Ardashir Khurra) mint. Dated AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / la hukm illa lillah / - / Reverse: Pellets before, after and below mint-name. Malek 90. Cleaned. EF. ($500)

28.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. AH 69-79 / AD 688-698. AR Drachm (30.5mm, 4.02g, 9h). ART (Ardashir Khurra) mint. Dated AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / la hukm illa lillah / - / Reverse: without pellet below mint-name. Malek 91. VF. Rare. ($500)

Ex Stephen Album Rare Coins Auction 38 (24 September 2020), lot 147.

29.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. AH 69-79 / AD 688-698. AR Drachm (31mm, 3.86g, 12h). BYSh (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / la hukm illa lillah / - / Malek 327. Good VF. ($500)

Ex Baldwin’s of St James’s (London) Auction 57 (14 April 2021), lot 363. On this coin, Qatari styles himself as ‘Slave of God, Qatari, Commander of the Faithful.’

30.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. AH 69-79 / AD 688-698. AR Drachm (31.8mm, 4.06g, 3h). ST (Istakhr) mint. Dated AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / la hukm illa lillah / - / Malek 1207. Cleaned. Near EF. A rare mint for Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. ($1000)

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31.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. AH 69-79 / AD 688-698. AR Drachm (31.4mm, 4.08g, 3h). TART (Tawwaj) mint. Dated AH 75. Obverse margin: - / la hukm illa lillah / ∙ / Malek 1253. Cleaned. Good VF. ($500)

32.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. AH 69-79 / AD 688-698. AR Drachm (30.2mm, 3.31g, 2h). YZ (Yazd) mint. Dated AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / la hukm illa lillah / - / Malek -; SCC 155. Some corrosion and staining. Near VF. Extremely rare; Yazd is the rarest mint for drachms of Qatari b. al-Fuja‘a. ($1500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 107 (22 October 2020), lot 9; Baldwin’s (London) Islamic Coin Auction 26 (6 August 2014), lot 24.

33.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Anonymous Kharijite issue. AR Drachm (30.8mm, 3.95g, 12h). ART (Ardashir Khurra) mint. Dated AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / la hukm illa lillah / Before bust, in place of governor’s name: LWYTW DATWBR / BLA YYZTW (‘There is no justice except from God’); pellet in field behind right shoulder. Malek 92. Cleaned. Near EF. Extremely rare. ($3000)

Instead of a personal name, this issue carries a Middle Persian translation of the Arabic slogan in the obverse margin. It has been suggested that this short-lived issue was produced by the adherents of Qatari b, al-Fuja‘a before he added his own name to the coinage later in this year.

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34.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Anonymous Kharijite issue. AR Drachm (30.4mm, 4.17g, 2h). ART (Ardashir Khurra) mint. Dated AH 75 / AD 694/5. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / la hukm illa lillah / Before bust, in place of governor’s name: LWYTY DATWBR / BLA YYZTW (‘There is no justice except from God’); no pellet behind right shoulder Malek 92. Cleaned. Good VF. Extremely rare. ($2500)

35 35.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf. AH 75-95 / AD 694-714. AR Drachm (30.5mm, 3.27g, 3h). BYSh (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 79 / AD 698/9. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / FRAWZAT / With name and patronymic in Pahlawi, rather than the usual Arabic. Malek -; SICA 1, 225. Edge chip and some staining. Good Fine. Extremely rare. ($1000)

The Pahlawi name in the third quarter of the obverse margin is that of a local official, Farrokhzad.

36.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf. AH 75-95 / AD 694-713. AR Drachm (33.6mm, 3.89g, 9h). BYSh (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 80 / AD 699/700. Obverse margin: - / lillah al-hamd : / - / Malek 348. Slightly ragged edge. Near EF. ($300)

37.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf. AH 75-95 / AD 694-713. AR Drachm (29.5mm, 3.84g, 3h). DA-P (Fasa) mint. Dated YE 71 = AH 83 / AD 702/3. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ MN / - / Reverse margin: pellet at 11:30h. Malek 511. Toned. VF. Rare.

($1500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 1206 (24 June 2021), lot 19. The Pahlawi letters MN in the obverse margin were explained by al-‘Ush as an abbreviation for ‘Mansur,’ meaning ‘Victorious.’ He further noted that this coin was struck in the year when al-Hajjaj recaptured Darabjird from the rebel ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad, which might explain why al-Hajjaj’s name is in Pahlawi, as on the coins struck there by ‘Abd al-Rahman in the previous year, rather than in Arabic as found on most of al-Hajjaj’s drachms.

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38.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad (Ibn al-Ash‘ath). AH 80-84 / AD 700-3. AR Drachm (30.5mm, 3.75g, 8h). BYSh (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 82 / AD 701/2. Obverse margin: - / hadhahu Allah wa nasrahu / - / Reverse: ‘2’ of date written in Pahlawi numerals. Malek 353. Cleaned. Good VF. Rare. ($1000)

39.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad (Ibn al-Ash‘ath). AH 80-84 / AD 700-3. AR Drachm (32.2mm, 4.02g, 9h). DA (Darabjird) mint. Dated YE 70 = AH 82/3 / AD 701/2. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ rabb harasahu / Malek 481. Some porosity at periphery. Near EF. Very rare. ($1500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 85 (27 April 2017), lot 1.

40.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad (Ibn al-Ash‘ath). AH 80-84 / AD 700-3. AR Drachm (30.5mm, 4.12g, 3h). DA / GH (Jahrom) mint. Dated YE 70 = AH 82 / AD 701/2. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ rabb harasahu / Reverse: Mint-name DA to right, GH to left at base of fire-altar. Malek 456 (described as a coin of Darabjird, but GH by fire-altar visible in illustration). Dark tone. EF. Extremely rare. ($1500)

The phrase rabb harasahu in the obverse margin is still distinguishable, but it appears that an attempt was made to efface this from the die.

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41.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad (Ibn al-Ash‘ath). AH 80-84 / AD 700-3. AR Drachm (30.3mm, 4.11g, 9h). KRMAN-HPYC (Khabis) mint. Dated AH 83 / AD 702/3. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / RWBAK RYWY (?) / Malek 726. Cleaned. EF. Rare. ($750)

The Pahlawi phrase in the third quadrant of the obverse margin is not fully understood. The first word is evidently ravag, ‘current’; it has been suggested that the second may be a toponym, but it is difficult to reconcile this with the mint-name on the reverse and other explanations are possible.

‘Abdallah b. Bastam

42.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Abdallah b. Bastam. Circa AH 82 / AD 701/2. AR Drachm (31.9mm, 4.13g, 11h). KRMAN-GRM (Garmshir) mint. Dated AH 82 / AD 701/2. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ barakat / Malek 694. EF. Excessively rare, and believed to be the finest known surviving drachm of this short-lived governor. ($10,000)

One of the rarest governors named on the Arab-Sasanian coinage, dirhams of ‘Abdallah b. Bastam were unknown before the early 2000’s. He was evidently a lieutenant of ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad, serving under him during the latter’s revolt against al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf during the early 80s / 700s. Garmshir is the only mint known to have issued drachms bearing his name.

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43.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Amr b. Laqit. Circa AH 82-3 / AD 701-2. AR Drachm (30.9mm, 4.07g, 11h). GRM-KRMAN (Garmshir) mint. Dated AH 82 / AD 701/2. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ ‘Amr lillah / Malek p. 151 = Triton X (9 January 2007), lot 903. Cleaned. EF. Extremely rare, apparently the second published example. ($1500)

44.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Amr b. Laqit. Circa AH 82-3 / AD 701-2. AR Drachm (30.4mm, 4.13g, 1h). KRMAN-NAR (Narmashir) mint. Dated AH 83 / AD 702/3. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∵ / ∵ ‘amr lillah / - ; PYRWC (Peroz, ‘victorious’) before governor’s name. Malek 769. Cleaned. Choice EF. Rare. ($750)

45.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Ubaydallah b. ‘Abd al-Rahman. Circa AH 83-4 / AD 700-1. AR Drachm (30.7mm, 4.27g, 2h). BCRA (Basra) mint. Dated AH 83 / AD 700/1. Obverse margin: - / amr Allah bi’l-wafa / - / Malek 207. Cleaned. Good VF. Very rare. ($1500)

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46.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Khalid b. Abi Khalid. AH 83 / AD 702/3. AR Drachm (31.4mm, 4.19g, 3h). GD (Jayy) mint. Dated AH 83 / AD 702/3. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∴ / - / Malek 585. Cleaned. Near EF. Very rare. ($1000)

47.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Khalid b. Abi Khalid. AH 83 / AD 702/3. AR Drachm (30.9mm, 4.19g, 2h). GD (Jayy) mint. Dated AH 83 / AD 702/3. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∴ / - / Malek 585. Cleaned. EF. Very rare. ($1000)

48 48.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Umara b. Tamim. AH 84-85 / AD 703-4. AR Drachm (29.9mm, 3.81g, 1h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 84. Obverse margin: NYWK - / bismillah / rabbi / Malek 1067. Some corrosion at periphery. Near EF. ($250)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1019.

49.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. ‘Umara b. Tamim. AH 84-85 / AD 703-4. AR Drachm (30.5mm, 4.02g, 10h). Dated AH 85 / AD 704. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / rabbi / Malek 1074 (same reverse die). Toned. EF.

($300)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210, (15 October 2020), lot 1023.

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50.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Misma‘ b. Malik. AH 85-6 / AD 704-5. AR Drachm (29.7mm, 3.98g, 9h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 85 / AD 704. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / rabbi / Malek 9.34. Slight porosity in margins. Near EF. Extremely rare. ($2000)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 107 (22 October 2020), lot 11.

51.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Eastern Sistan Series. AR Drachm (31.3mm, 4.00g, 8h). Khusraw II type. SK (Sistan) mint. Blundered date (possibly struck circa AH 70 / AD 690). Obverse margin: DWM / bismillah / rabbi / Malek 961; Album 75. Slightly double-struck on obverse. VF. ($100)

Ex Dix Noonan & Webb (London) Auction 182 (16 September 2020), lot 630.

52.

52 53 Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. Eastern Sistan Series. ‘Abd (probably ‘Abd al-Rabba b. ‘Abdallah, sub-governor in Sistan circa AH 87-88 / AD 706-7). AR Drachm (31.5mm, 3.83g, 7h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 87 / AD 705/6. Obverse margin: - / bismillah / rabbi / Reverse margin: - / ‘Abd / - / Cf Malek 1076 (without ‘Abd on reverse). Good VF. Extremely rare. ($500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) auction 210, 15 October 2020, lot 1024. Misma‘ b. Malik died in Sistan during AH 86 / AD 705/6, and was replaced by Qutayba b. Muslim. Qutayba did not place his own name on the drachm coinage, retaining that of the long-dead Khusraw instead. However, according to the Tarikh-i Sistan, Qutayba appointed ‘Abd alRabba b. ‘Abdallah as his sub-governor in Sistan, but dismissed him in favour of Nu‘man b. ‘Awf during the year AH 88. The name of ‘Abd is placed in the reverse margin, as befitting his status as a sub-governor.

53.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. Eastern Sistan Series. ‘Abd (probably ‘Abd al-Rabba b. ‘Abdallah, sub-governor in Sistan circa AH 87-88 / AD 706-7). AR Drachm (31.9mm, 3.91g, 7h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 88 / AD 706/7. Obverse margin: - / bismillah ∴ / rabbi / Reverse margin: - / - / - / ‘Abd Malek 1077. Some staining. Good VF. Extremely rare. ($500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) auction 210, 15 October 2020, lot 1025.

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54.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Æ Fals (17.2mm, 2.96g, 1h). Yamnia or Yubna mint. Obverse: Muhammad - rasul Allah, Standing figure of caliph facing, right hand on hilt of sheathed sword. Reverse: Yamnia (or Yubna - Filastin, Large cursive m above short exergual line. Goodwin p. 54, fig. 4a (same dies). Fine. Very rare. ($500)

55.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Æ Fals (28.8mm, 8.40g, 1h). Imitating Byzantine types of Justin II and Sophia. Scythopolis mint. Obverse: CKVΘ-O-ΠOΛHC, Imperial couple seated facing, both holding cruciform scepters; cross above. Reverse: Large M; cross above, A/N/N/O to left, maqsam to right, A below, NIK in exergue. Album 3509.1; Foss 83; SICA IVa -. VF. Rare. ($500)

The word maqsam means ‘part’ or ‘fraction’.

Rare North African Semissis

56.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AV Semissis (11.5mm, 2.02g, 6h). ‘Africa’ (Carthage) mint. Undated. Obverse: Two facing Imperial busts, crosses removed from crowns, traces of Latin legend around Reverse: IN N dNI MSRC SL FER IN AFR, for In Nomine Domini Misericordis Solidus Feritus In Africa (’In the Name of God the Merciful, this solidus was struck in Africa’, Cippus on three steps, surmounted by globe. Bernardi 10. EF. Very rare. ($7500)

57.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. AV Tremissis (10.8mm, 1.37g, 11h). Arab-Byzantine type. Without mint-name (struck in North Africa). Undated. Obverse: Abbreviated version of Deus Eternus Deus Magnus Deus Omnia Noscens, ending OMNIΩ across centre. Reverse: Abbreviated version of In Nomine Domini Non Deus Nisi Solus Non Deus Alius around cippus on steps, surmounted by T. Bernardi 25. Legends partly off-flan. EF. Rare. ($1500)

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Three Arab-Latin Issues from Muslim Spain

58.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. AV Semissis (11.5mm, 1.95g, 6h). Spain. Undated (probably struck circa AH 93-5 / AD 712-4. Obverse: FEITOS SLI IN SPAN AN I, Star with eight rays. Reverse: FERITOS SOLID IN SPAN AN, Cippus on three steps, surmounted by globe. Bernardi 32; Walker p. 77. Near EF. Rare.

($5000)

The legends on both sides are abbreviations of the Latin Feritos hic solidus in Spania anno.... This translates literally as ‘Was struck this solidus in Spain in the year...’ and is itself a word-for-word translation of the Arabic mint/date formula used on the post-Reform precious metal coinage.

59.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. Pale Gold Solidus (12.8mm, 3.36 g). Arab-Byzantine type. Without mint-name. Dated Indiction XI / AH 94 / AD 712/3. Obverse: H SLd FRt ]...[XIIII - INdC XI (for ‘Hic solidus feritus in Spania anno XIIII indictione XI’) in margin and field Reverse: Abbreviated version of ‘In nomine Domini non Deus nisi Deus Solus cui non socius’ around eight-pointed star. Bernardi 30. VF. Rare. ($1200)

Ex Aureo & Calico (Barcelona) Auction 353 (21 October 2020), lot 409.

60.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. AV Solidus (12.4mm, 3.00 g). Arab-Byzantine type. Without mint-name. Dated Indiction XI / AH 94 / AD 712/3. Obverse: Abbreviated version of ‘Hic solidus feritus in Spania anno XCIIII indictione XI’) in margin and field. Reverse: Abbreviated version of ‘In nomine Domini non Deus nisi Deus Solus cui non socius’ around eight-pointed star. Bernardi 30. Good VF. Legends coarsely engraved but virtually complete, rare thus. ($1500)

Ex Aureo & Calico (Barcelona) Auction 353 (21 October 2020), lot 410.

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The First Purely Islamic Gold Coin

61.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AV Dinar (20mm, 4.15g, 6h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 77 / AD 696/7. Obverse margin: Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahu bi’l-hudā wa dīn al-haqq lī-yuzhirahu ’ala al-dīn kullihi Obverse field: lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīk lahu Reverse margin: bismillah duriba hadha al-dinar fi sanat saba‘ wa saba‘in Reverse field: Allah ahad Allah āl-samad lam yalīd wa lam yalūd ICV 155; Walker 186; Bernardi (2001), dies c/A; Sotheby’s London, 18 April 1994, lot 290 (same dies). Pin marks and light scratches, trace of double strike, minor edge scuff, holed for suspension. Good VF. Extremely rare, especially with addition of pellet in obverse marginal legend, and the key date in the series. ($40,000)

The Muslims issued virtually no gold coins until the final years of the seventh century AD. Instead the early caliphs imported huge quantities of Byzantine solidi – a solution whose deficiencies became increasingly apparent with time until, in the words of a modern scholar: ...’Abd al-Malik perceived the inconvenience and economic loss that resulted from the absence of minting in Syria and proceeded to remedy the situation. Without a mint, bullion could be turned into gold coins only by selling it to merchants...The remarkable aspect of the matter is not that ‘Abd al-Malik instituted minting, but rather that half a century elapsed after the Arab conquest before a mint was set up in the capital of the caliphate.’ (Bates, M.L., ‘History, Geography and Numismatics in the First Century of Islamic Coinage,’ Revue Suisse de Numsimatique 65 (1986), pp. 231-262.). One way by which the caliphs obtained supplies of these solidi was by selling papyrus to the Byzantine court. According to one episode, recounted with minor variations by several medieval Muslim historians, ‘Abd al-Malik began adding strongly Islamic legends to the seals used on these shipments. This offended the Byzantines, prompting a threat from Justinian to retaliate by putting anti-Islamic inscriptions to the gold solidi which the Muslims would receive as payment for the papyrus. Rather than remove the Islamic legends from the seals, as Justinian had demanded, ‘Abd al-Malik was advised that it would be better to introduce a new, purely Islamic gold coinage himself, and to ban the circulation of Byzantine solidi within the Islamic lands. It is highly unlikely that this episode alone provoked ‘Abd al-Malik to introduce an Islamic precious metal coinage. Indeed, we now know that several experimental coin types were struck in both gold and silver between AH 72 and AH 77, all still closely related to Byzantine and Sasanian prototypes (see lots 24-26 above), showing that the need for such a reform was already perceived, and that steps were already being taken towards that goal. But the story of the papyri nevertheless illustrates several important points. Firstly, that for all the decades of fighting between them, trade arrangements had been established between the Byzantines and the Muslims. Secondly, it reveals the Muslim dependence on Byzantine gold; the absence of an Islamic gold coinage meant that ‘Abd al-Malik could not simply accept Justinian’s new solidi, melt them, and use the gold to make dinars. Thirdly, it shows an appreciation of the economic benefits of introducing a new Islamic gold coinage; most versions of this story include a trusted advisor (his name varies between accounts), who urges ‘Abd al-Malik not merely to strike his own coins but to ban the use of Byzantine solidi in the Islamic lands. Charging to convert the prohibited solidi into dinars could have raised additional funds for the treasury. And, fourthly, it demonstrates the paramount importance attached to coins as symbols and instruments of religious and imperial status and expression. ‘Abd al-Malik’s adoption of Islamic slogans on the papyrus seals mattered – and mattered enough for Justinian to make a formal protest and threaten to modify his own coinage in retaliation. Modern scholarship tends to regard ‘Abd al-Malik’s introduction of the reformed gold and silver coinage as the culmination of a process rather than a stroke of innovation. But this risks minimising just how radical ‘Abd al-Malik’s new dinars were. The coin offered here is a very rare survivor from the first year in which purely Islamic precious metal coins were struck, and represents the genesis of a gold coinage whose weight and fineness was carefully maintained in accordance with Qur’anic precepts. The type lasted unchanged until the fall of the Umayyad caliphate in AH 132, and the enduring power of ‘Abd al-Malik’s design was such that three of the four inscriptions which feature on these first Islamic dinars were also used on the last coins of the Abbasids, struck nearly six centuries later. Instead of the modified crosses and imperial images found on previous gold issues, these new dinars were purely epigraphic in design, bearing verses from the Qur’an which stress the oneness of God in conscious opposition to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It is hardly surprising that the present piece, one of the very first gold coins to bear such proudly Islamic legends, handsomely rendered in Kufic script, should have been pierced to be worn as jewellery.

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62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AV Dinar (19.5mm, 4.23g, 1h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 78 / AD 697/8. ICV 156; Walker 187. Fields burnished. Near EF.

64 ($500)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AV Dinar (19.2mm, 4.22g, 7h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 80 / AD 699/700. ICV 158; Walker 190. Minor graffiti. Near EF.

($500)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AV Dinar (19.5mm, 4.27g, 7h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 85 / AD 704/5. Pellet by unit of date. ICV 162; Walker 195. EF. Rare date.

($750)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. AV Dinar (19.1mm, 4.27g, 7h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 86 / AD 705. ICV 164; Walker 197. Choice EF.

($500)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. AV Dinar (20.1mm, 4.26g, 5h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 94 / AD 712/3. ICV 176; Walker 207. Minor edge marke. Near EF.

($500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1036.

67.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 96-99 / AD 715-717. AV Dinar (19mm, 4.23g, 8h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 97 / AD 715/6. ICV 183; Walker 212. Minor marks. Good VF.

($500)

A Post-Reform Umayyad Dinar From North Africa

68.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Yazid II ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 101-105 / AD 720-724. AV Dinar (19.1mm, 4.23g, 3h). Ifriqiya mint. Dated AH 102 / AD 720/1. Pellet above sanat in date legend. Bernardi 44Ca; SICA 2, 332-3. Die rust. Near EF. Very rare.

($10,000)

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69.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Yazid II ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 101-105 / AD 720-724. AV Dinar (19.7mm, 4.27g, 6h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 103 / AD 721/2. ICV 196; Walker 220. Good VF.

($500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1037.

70.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Yazid II ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 101-105 / AD 720-724. AV Dinar (19.2mm, 4.24g, 6h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 105 / AD 723/4. Reverse margin: pellet below b of duriba. ICV 199; Walker 224. EF. Rare date.

($3000)

71 71.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. Plated Dinar (20.9mm, 3.92g, 9h). Dated AH 107 / AD 725/6. A contemporary forgery of good style; some surface blistering, but the gilding over the bronze coin almost intact. Good VF. Very rare. ($750)

72.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AV Dinar (19.1mm, 4.27g, 12h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 118 / AD 736. ICV 212; Walker 238. VF.

($500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1039.

73 73.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AV Dinar (19.3mm, 4.25g, 3h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 118 / AD 736. ICV 212; Walker 238. EF.

($750)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1038.

74.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AV Dinar (20.1mm, 4.26g, 5h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 122 / AD 739/40. ICV 216; Walker 242. Near EF. Scarce.

($750)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1040.

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Key Date for Post-Reform Gold

75.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Ibrahim ibn al-Walid. AH 126-127 / AD 744. AV Dinar (18.9mm, 4.16g, 7h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 127 / AD 744/5. ICV 221; Walker 247; Album T140 RRR. Minor edge marks. EF. Extremely rare.

($17,000)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 107 (22 October 2020), lot 13.

76 76.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Marwan II ibn Muhammad. AH 127-132 / AD 744-750. AV Dinar (20mm, 4.21g, 1h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 130 / AD 747/8. ICV 224; Walker 250. Superb EF. Rare date.

($1000)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1041.

77.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Marwan II ibn Muhammad. AH 127-132 / AD 744-750. AV Dinar (19.6mm, 4.22g, 8h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 131 / AD 748/9. ICV 225; Walker 251. Minor marks on reverse. Good VF. Rare.

($1000)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1042.

78.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. AR Dirham (28.6mm, 2.58g, 6h). Arran mint. Dated AH 89 / AD 707/8. Klat 26. Minor deposit. Good VF. Very rare.

($5000)

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Three Extremely Rare Dirhams from Ifriqiya

79.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. AH 99-101 / AD 717-720. AR Dirham (26.6mm, 2.77g, 5h). Ifriqiya mint. Dated AH 99 / AD 717/8. Klat 87. Light double-striking on reverse. Good VF. Extremely rare, just one specimen of this mint and date recorded by Klat. ($10,000)

80.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Marwan II ibn Muhammad. AH 127-132 / AD 744-750. AR Dirham (26.9mm, 2.63g, 5h). Ifriqiya mint. Dated AH 130 / AD 747/8. Klat 112 (same dies). Very slightly clipped. VF. Excessively rare, apparently the finer of the two known specimens of this mint and date. ($15,000)

81.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Saffah. AH 132-136 / AD 749-754. AR Dirham (26.6mm, 2.81g, 2h). Ifriqiya mint. Dated AH 134. Of Umayyad type, with surat al-Ikhlas on reverse. Klat -; Lowick -; cf Morton & Eden auction 89, 25 October 2017, lot 15. Cleaned. Good VF. Extremely rare. ($7500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 103 (24 October 2019), lot 21. After the death of the Umayyad caliph Hisham in AH 126, ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Habib al-Fihri took advantage of the ensuing chaos to seize power in North Africa. The new caliph, Marwan II, had little choice but to confirm ‘Abd al-Rahman as governor there. He survived the fall of the Umayyads, and the new Abbasid caliph, al-Saffah, initially allowed him to remain in post. Over time, however, ‘Abd al-Rahman became increasingly concerned by repeated Abbasid demands for him to submit to them, and he switched his allegiance to the Umayyad cause. He invited the surviving Umayyads to take refuge with him in North Africa, but soon became concerned that having members of the former ruling dynasty in the province he had usurped might threaten his own power there. The caliph Hisham’s grandson, ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Mu’awiya b. Hisham, accordingly went into hiding among the Berbers for a time, before crossing the Straits of Gibraltar and establishing the Spanish Umayyad dynasty Spain in AH 138.

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82.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Yazid II ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 101-105 / AD 720-724. AR Dirham (27.7mm, 2.73g, 5h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 104 / AD 722/3. Klat 117. Minor marks. VF. Scarce, the earliest available date for dirhams of al-Andalus.

($750)

Ex Stephen Album Rare Coins Auction 40 (13 May 2021), lot 199.

83.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Yazid II ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 101-105 / AD 720-724. AR Dirham (26.3mm, 2.94g, 6h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 105 / AD 723/4. Klat 118.a. Small patch of discoloration on reverse. Near EF. Rare.

($1000)

Two different styles of calligraphy are found on dirhams struck in Spain during the year AH 105. This specimen is an attractive example of the later, more angular variety.

84.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirham (27.1mm, 2.85g, 5h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 111. Obverse margin: Circular legends within linear border, four pairs of annulets around. Klat 124.b. Scratches in obverse field. Good VF. Rare.

($1000)

Ex Aureo & Calico (Barcelona) Auction 364 (21 April 2021), lot 1269.

85.

86 85 Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirham (25.2mm, 2.57g, 5h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 116 / AD 734/5. Klat 129. Rough surfaces. VF.

($500)

Ex Tauler y Fau (Madrid) Auction 84 (11 May 2021), lot 6001.

86.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirham (28.1mm, 2.87g, 6h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 118 / AD 736. Klat 131. Small edge chip and minor staining. Near EF.

($400)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 1206 (24 June 2021), lot 39.

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87.

88.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirham (28.1mm, 2.91g, 6h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 118 / AD 736. Klat 131. Minor staining in margins. EF.

($500)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirham (26.1mm, 2.79g, 6h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 119 / AD 737. Klat 132. Some peripheral staining and losses to edge. Good VF. Scarce.

($500)

Ex Morton & Eden Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1044.

89.

90.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirham (27.1mm, 2.88g, 7h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 121 / AD 738/9. Klat 134. Minor staining in margins. EF. Rare.

($1000)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirham (26.7mm, 2.90g, 7h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 121 / AD 738/9. Klat 134. AU. Rare.

($1500)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 107 (22 October 2020), lot 14. This specimen, which is particularly well preserved and which was evidently struck from fresh dies, shows traces of a grid with three rows and three columns around the central obverse legend. The engraver appears to have incised this lightly on the surface of the die to help position the legends correctly.

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91.

92.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 96-99 / AD 715-717. AR Dirham (26.6mm, 2.94g, 1h). Bahurasir mint. Dated AH 97 / AD 715/6. Klat 191. Dark tone, small scratch in obverse field, slight weakness in margins. VF. Extremely rare.

($4000)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Dirham (25.8mm, 2.67g, 6h). Dabil mint. Dated AH 84 / AD 703. Klat 285. Minor deposit. EF. Very rare.

($2000)

The mint of Dabil only issued Umayyad silver dirhams between AH 84-86. This, the first year of issue, is also the rarest.

93.

94.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Marwan II ibn Muhammad. AH 127-132 / AD 744-750. AR Dirham (26.8mm, 2.85g, 7h). Sijistan mint. Dated AH 129 / AD 746/7. Klat 447. Minor edge bend. Good VF. Rare, only three examples cited by Klat.

($1000)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Dirham (25.5mm, 2.45g, 3h). Sus mint. Dated AH 83 / AD 702/3. Mint-name reads bi-Sus, i.e. lacking the definite article. Klat 476 (same reverse die). Some staining. Good VF. Rare.

($1500)

Susa, a rare mint for Umayyad dirhams, is usually rendered in Arabic as al-Sus. For the year AH 83, however, the definite article is omitted, and the mint simply written as Sus. No explanation has been offered for this curious change.

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95.

96.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Dirham (26.5mm, 2.51g, 5h). Al-Furat mint. Dated AH 79 / AD 698/9. Klat 501. Small edge chip and some hoard-staining. VF. Very rare.

($3000)

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Dirham (26.5mm, 2.68g, 8h). Al-Furat mint. Dated AH 80 / AD 699/700. Klat 502 (same dies). Edge crimp. Good Fine. Rare.

($500)

An Umayyad ‘Mystery Mint’

97.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. AR Dirham (28.5mm, 2.50g, 4h). Albanaq (or al-Niq) mint. Dated AH 89 / AD 707/8. Klat 649 (same reverse die); Album p. 40 (RRR); Bates, M.L., ‘The Dirham Mint of the Northern Provinces of the Umayyad Caliphate,’ Armenian Numismatic Journal XV (1989), pp. 89-109. Minor corrosion in periphery. EF. Extremely rare. ($10,000)

Formerly read as ‘al-Niq’ but now tentatively interpreted as ‘Albanaq’ this is one of the rarest Umayyad dirham mints. However, it is possible to draw some conclusions about the mint’s likely location on the basis of the date and calligraphy. Between AH 84 and 90, dirham minting was almost completely centralised at the capital, Damascus, and the newly-founded mint-town of Wasit. Virtually all exceptions belong to a group of dirhams struck at mints in the Umayyad North, including Arran, Tiflis and Harran. These all exhibit the distinctive, rounded calligraphy characteristic of Damascus, and also all omit the preposition fi from the mint/date formula in the obverse margin, which dirham mints in Iraq and the East retain until the late 90s. This coin shares these characteristics, leading Bates and others to place ‘al-Niq’ somewhere in the Umayyad North (Bates, op. cit., p. 103), even though the mint-name still defied interpretation. More recently, however, Album has proposed the reading ‘Albanaq’, tentatively adopted here, which he explained as being ‘probably equivalent to Alvank (Albania) in the Caucasus, not to be confused with Albania in southeastern Europe’ (Album p. 40, note 74).

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2:1

98.

Umayyad Caliphate. temp. ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Uniface dirham weight (12.1mm, 2.63g). Makka. Undated. al-wafa lillah / bi’l-qustat (?) / al-mustaqim / mithqal Makka in four lines, within square border of dots. Good Fine. Extremely rare. ($5000)

99.

Umayyad Caliphate. Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik. AH 96-99 / AD 714-7. Uniface lead weight (49.3mm, 87.11g). Dated AH 99 / AD 717/8. In field: Muhammad ra- / sul Allah / sanat tis‘a / wa tisa‘in / bin Muslim. In margin:‘amr bihi Sulayman amir al-mu’minin, Hayyan ibn Shurayh, Qudama (?). Some encrustation. VF. Extremely rare.

($3000)

The inscriptions on this remarkable object are difficult to read in places. The version proposed here, where the final line of the field is interpreted as the patronymic following Qudama at the end of the margin, translates as ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God. In the year nine and ninety. Ordered by Sulayman, Commander of the Faithful, Hayyan b. Shurayh, [and] Qudama b. Muslim.’ Sulayman b. ‘Abd al-Malik was caliph from AH 96-99, and Hayyan b. Shurayh served as Finance Director between AH 99-101, replacing ‘Usama b. Zayd. Qudama b. Muslim, if this name is correctly read, has yet to be identified. The legends on this object tell us nothing about its original purpose, but there is no evidence that it has been used as a seal, and the reverse has been carefully prepared to give a flat circular base. It has been suggested that it may have been prepared as an official treasury weight, equivalent to 20-dinars (vide Baldwin’s of St James’s Auction 4 (9 May 2017), lot 110).

Fals, Dirham and Hemidrachms from ‘Abbasid Tabaristan

100 100.

101.

101

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mansur. AH 136-158 / AD 754-775. Æ Fals (21.2mm, 2.88g, 6h). Tabaristan mint. Dated AH 146 / AD 763/4. Obverse margin: mimma amr bihi’l-Mahdi Muhammad ‘ala yadayy ‘Isa...[Rawh] bin Hatim Reverse margin: mint and date; In field: ● ● ● / Muhammad / rasul Allah / ● ● ●. Apparently unpublished. VF. Extremely rare.

($750)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mansur. AH 136-158 / AD 754-775. AR Dirham (24.5mm, 2.52g, 5h). Tabaristan mint. Dated AH 147 / AD 764/5. Obverse: Three concentric annulets in outer margin with governor’s name ‘R-W-H’ (for Rawh b. Hatim) between them. Reverse field: citing the caliphal heir al-Mahdi Muhammad. Lowick 2057; Malek 54B. Good Fine. Rare. ($500) 34

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102.

102

103

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mahdi. AH 158-169 / AD 775-785. ‘Umar b. al-‘Ala. AH 155-165 / AD 775-785. AR Hemidrachm (23.2mm, 1.97g, 9h). Tabaristan mint. Dated PYE 125 = AH 160 / AD 776/7. Obverse: Name and patronymic of governor both in Pahlawi (before bust) and in Arabic (in margin). Malek 77; Album 57. Choice EF. A one-year type. ($100)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210, (15 October 2020), lot 1032.

103.

104.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mahdi. AH 158-169 / AD 775-785. Sa‘id b. Da‘laj. AH 159-162 / AD 776-779. AR Hemidrachm (23.2mm, 1.99g, 3h). Tabaristan mint. Dated PYE 126 = AH 161 / AD 777/8. Obverse: Name of governor in two lines before bust, with patronymic. Reverse: Crescent to left and star to right of flames. Malek 87.2; Album 59 RR. EF. Rare. ($500)

104 105 ‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mahdi. AH 158-169 / AD 775-785. Yahya b. Mikhnaq. AH 162-164 / AD 779-781. AR Hemidrachm (23.6mm, 1.92g, 9h). Tabaristan mint. Dated PYE 129 = AH 164 / AD 780/1. Obverse: Name of governor before bust. Reverse: Pellet above second ‘T’ of mint-name. Star to left and crescent to right of flames. Malek 89.2; Album 60 RR. EF. Rare. ($500)

105.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mahdi. AH 158-169 / AD 775-785. Yahya b. Mikhnaq. AH 162-165 / AD 779-781. AR Hemidrachm (25mm, 1.95g, 5h). Tabaristan mint. Dated PYE 130 = AH 165 / AD 781/2. Obverse: Name of governor before bust. Reverse: Star to left and right of flames. Malek 89.8; Album 60 RR. Choice EF. Rare. ($500)

106.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid. AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. Ma‘add. AH 173 / AD 789/90). AR Hemidrachm (23.4mm, 1.95g, 4h). Tabaristan mint. Dated PYE 138 = AD 789. Governor’s name, written in Arabic, in fourth quadrant of obverse margin. Malek 201; Album 67. Toned. AU. Rare. ($1000)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1035.

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107.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mahdi. AH 158-169 / AD 775-785. Nusayr. AH 168 / AD 784/5. AR Hemidrachm (22.5mm, 2.18g, 5h). Al-Rayy mint. Dated AH 168 / AD 784/5. Reverse: Mint and date in Arabic to either side of fire-altar. Malek 212; Album L73 RRR. Near EF. Very rare. ($1500)

108.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid. AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. AV Dinar (19.3mm, 4.26g, 12h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 170 / AD 786/7. Bab (or Ib?) at top of reverse field. Bernardi 60 RRR. AU. Extremely rare.

($2500)

Ex Baldwin’s of St James’s Auction 49 (27 October 2020), lot 1006. The significance of the letters at the top of the reverse field is not yet understood. Bernardi proposed to read them as bab, but while there is certainly a horizontal stroke to the right of the alif there is no vertical ‘tooth’ for the ‘b’. An alternative possibility might be that this horizontal stroke is simply a ‘tail’ to the alif, since many of the letters in the margins of this coin have similar ‘tails’ at the tops of vertical strokes, with the ‘i’ and ‘n’ of dinar a particularly clear example. In this case, the letters at the top of the reverse field could plausibly be read as ‘Ib’ and interpreted as an abbreviation for ‘Ibrahim’. It may be noted that some rare dinars of al-Hadi dated AH 169 have ‘BR’ at the bottom of the reverse field (Bernardi 56), and it has been proposed that this may be an abbreviation for ‘Ibrahim’ also.

109 109.

110

‘Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid. AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. AV Dinar (17.8mm, 4.04g, 10h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 171 / AD 787/8. Citing the governor Muhammad. Bernardi -; Lowick -; cf. Lugdunum GmbH Auction 15 (6 March 2019, lot 16). Lightly clipped. VF. Extremely rare. ($1500)

The Muhammad cited on this coin has been plausibly identified with Muhammad b. Sulayman b. ‘Ali, a cousin of the first two ‘Abbasid caliphs, al-Saffah and al-Mansur, and husband of the caliph al-Mahdi’s daughter, ‘Abbasa. For much of his adult life he served as governor of Basra and its dependencies, which, in the time of Harun al-Rashid, also included Bahrayn, ‘Uman and Yamama. He was still in office when he died in AH 173 / AD 789, whereupon his vast fortune, which contemporary accounts suggest may have amounted to sixty million dirhams, was promptly confiscated by the caliph.

110.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mutawakkil. AH 232-247 / AD 847-861. AV Dinar (19.8mm, 4.27g, 11h). Al-Basra mint. Dated AH 235 / AD 849/50. Without name of heir. Bernardi 155Je. Near VF.

($300)

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111.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mutawakkil. AH 232-247 / AD 847-861. AV Dinar (20.6mm, 4.16g, 10h). Al-Basra mint. Dated AH 240 / AD 854/5. Citing the heir Abu ‘Abdallah in fourth line of obverse field. Bernardi 157Je = BMC I, 316. Minor marks. VF. Extremely rare; Bernardi records only one specimen of this mint and date. ($2000)

Extremely Rare ‘Abbasid Medallic Dinar

112.

113.

114.

115.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mutawakkil. AH 232-247 / AD 847-861. AV Donative Dinar (22mm, 4.23g, 5h). Medallion type with broad margins. Surra man ra’a mint. Dated AH 246 / AD 860/1. Obverse field: citing the heir al-Mu‘tazz billah. Cf Bernardi 158Jc (this date not listed); cf Ilisch DI 11 (a dirham of this mint and date); cf Gorny & Mosch (Munich) Auction 139, 9 March 2005, lot 3033 (same dies). Small edge bend and some staining. Near EF. Extremely rare. ($5000)

113 114 ‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mutawakkil. AH 232-247 / AD 847-861. AV Dinar (21.1mm, 4.27g, 6h). Marw mint. Dated AH 246 / AD 860/1. With the name of the caliphal heir al-Mu‘tazz billah. Bernardi 158Ph. Considerable die-rust evident, as seems usual for this issue. Good VF.

($300)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tazz. AH 252-255 / AD 866-869. AV Dinar (20.7mm, 4.28g, 1h). Marw mint. Dated AH 253 / AD 867. Bernardi 162Ph. VF.

($300)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tamid. AH 256-279 / AD 870-892. AV Dinar (22mm, 4.21g, 11h). Al-Ahwaz mint. Dated AH 273 / AD 886/7. al-Nasir li-din Allah / al-Muwaffaq billah in fourth and fifth lines of obverse field. Bernardi 180Nd RRR = Qatar 1249. Fine. Extremely rare.

($1000)

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116.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tamid. AH 256-279 / AD 870-892. AV Dinar (19.5mm, 2.90g, 12h). San’a mint. Dated AH 271 / AD 884/5. Citing the heir al-Muwaffaq billah and Dhu’l-Wizaratayn (‘Holder of the Two Offices’: the title of Sa‘id b. Makhlad). Bernardi 178El var. (different arrangement of legends in reverse field). VF. ($300)

117.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tamid. AH 256-279 / AD 870-892. AV Dinar (22mm, 4.23g, 11h). Nisibin mint. Dated AH 267 / AD 880/1. Citing al-Mufawwad ‘ala-’llah in fourth line of obverse field. Bernardi 175Hg RRR. Minor deposit. Near VF. Extremely rare; Bernardi records only one specimen of this mint and date. ($1500)

118.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tamid. AH 256-279 / AD 870-892. AV Dinar (22.8mm, 3.90g, 2h). Wasit mint. Dated AH 268 / AD 881/2. Citing the heir al-Muwaffaq billah / Letter sin below. Bernardi 177Jm RRR. VF. Extremely rare.

($3000)

Unique Dinar of Ra‘s al-‘Ayn

119.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tadid. AH 279-289 / AD 892-902. AV Dinar (24.3mm, 4.28g, 11h). Ra’s al-‘Ayn mint. Dated AH 285 / AD 898/9. Bernardi 211Hl (this piece). Pin marks in fields. Near EF. Excessively rare, apparently unique.

($7500)

Ex Spink Zurich Auction 37 (19 September 1991), lot 155. The mint-name on this coin was evidently re-engraved on the die, with Ra‘s al-‘Ayn apparently modified from Madinat al-Salam.

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120.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tadid. AH 279-289 / AD 892-902. AV Dinar (22.8mm, 4.24g, 11h). Nisibin mint. Dated AH 285 / AD 898. cf Bernardi 211Hg (this date not recorded). Buckled flan. Near Fine. Excessively rare, apparently an unpublished date for this very rare ‘Abbasid gold mint. ($2500)

121.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu’tadid. AH 279-289 / AD 892-902. AR Half-Mithqal (14.3mm, 2.12g, 12h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 280 / AD 893/4. Obverse: lillah / al-Mu‘tadid / billah in field. Reverse: amir / al-mu- / minin in field, date around. Ilisch D III 6. Dark tone. VF. Rare.

122.

123.

($500)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muktafi. AH 289-295 / AD 902-908. AV Dinar (24.8mm, 4.15g, 6h). Harran mint. Dated AH 290 / AD 902/3. Bernardi 226Hj. Small edge split. EF. Rare.

($1000)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muktafi. AH 289-295 / AD 902-908. AV Dinar (23.7mm, 5.03g, 7h). Harran mint. Dated AH 291 / AD 903/4. Citing Wali al-Dawla in fourth line of obverse field. Bernardi 228Hj. VF. Rare.

($1000)

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124.

125.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muktafi. AH 289-295 / AD 902-908. AV Dinar (24.4mm, 4.21g, 7h). Halab mint. Dated AH 289 / AH 902. Bernardi 226Gb RRR. VF. Very rare.

($1000)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muktafi. AH 289-295 / AD 902-908. AV Dinar (21.6mm, 3.91g, 7h). Mah al-Basra mint. Dated AH 291 / AD 903/4. Citing Wali al-Dawla in fourth line of obverse field. Bernardi 228Mq RRR. Slightly buckled flan and some marginal weakness. Near VF. Extremely rare.

($2000)

126.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muktafi. AH 289-295 / AD 902-908. AV Dinar (21.6mm, 3.29g, 4h). Mah al-Kufa mint. Dated AH 291 / AD 903/4. Citing Wali al-Dawla in fourth line of obverse field. Bernardi 228Mr (citing a single specimen of this mint and date). Some weakness. VF. Extremely rare. ($2000)

127.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muktafi. AH 289-295 / AD 902-908. AV Dinar (21.5mm, 4.48g, 2h). Hamadan mint. Dated AH 291 / AD 903/4. Citing Wali al-Dawla in fourth line of obverse field. Bernardi 228Mu RRR. Slight edge crimp. Near VF. Extremely rare.

($2500)

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128.

129.

130.

131.

132.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir. AH 295-320 / AD 908-932. AV Dinar (25.8mm, 2.82g, 12h). Harran mint. Dated AH 299 / AD 911/2. Bernardi 242Hj RRR. Good VF. Extremely rare; Bernardi records only one specimen of this mint and date.

($2000)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir. AH 295-320 / AD 908-932. AV Dinar (24.3mm, 4.03g, 11h). Dimashq mint. Dated AH 312 / AD 924/5. Bernardi 242Ge. EF. Very rare.

($4000)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir. AH 295-320 / AD 908-932. AV Dinar (23.9mm, 2.83g, 10h). Al-Rafiqa mint. Dated AH 297 / AD 909/10. Bernardi 237Hn = RIC 175. Minor marks. Near EF. Extremely rare; Bernardi records only one specimen of this mint and date. ($2000)

131 ‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir. AH 295-320 / AD 908-932. AV Amiri Dinar (18.6mm, 1.92g, 3h). San’a mint. Date AH 314 / AD 926/7. Broad margins around fields on both sides. Bernardi 241El. EF.

132

($500)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir. AH 295-320 / AD 908-932. AV Dinar (24mm, 3.13g, 4h). Qumm mint. Dated AH 296 / AD 909/10. ∵ at bottom of reverse field. Dauwe -; cf Bernardi type 237 (not recorded for Qumm); cf Morton & Eden (London) Auction 1206 (24 June 2021), lot 165 (same obverse die). Typically coarse striking for this mint. Near VF. Extremely rare. ($1000) 41

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133.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir. AH 295-320 / AD 908-932. AV Dinar (26.3mm, 4.32g, 2h). Mah al-Basra mint. Dated AH 312 / AD 924/5. Final ‘2’ of date re-engraved over ‘1’ on die. Cf Bernardi 242Mq (this date not listed). Some central weakness. Near VF. Rare.

($750)

134.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir. AH 295-320 / AD 908-932. AR Donative Dirham (22.5mm, 3.19g, 2h). Without mint or date. Obverse: Ja‘far al-Imam - al-Muqtadir - billah, Two confronted S-shaped ornaments with pellet between them, ornaments above and below Reverse: Ja‘far al-Imam - al-Muqtadir - billah, Similar to the obverse but additional ornaments between the second l and h of billah in margin. Cf Ilisch T5 (gold); cf Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 16 (20 October 2009), lot 321 (without additional ornaments on lillah). Pierced. VF. Excessively rare. ($5000)

135.

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Radi. AH 322-329 / AD 934-940. AV Dinar (25mm, 3.51g, 5h). Qumm mint. Dated AH 327 / AD 938/9. Obverse: Letter ha below field. Reverse: Letter sad below field. Bernardi 285Mn RRR; Dauwe 59Aa. Weakly struck. Good VF. Scarce.

136 136.

137.

($500)

137

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mustazhir. AH 487-512 / AD 1094-1118. AV Dinar (25.7mm, 3.10g, 1h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 491. Citing the caliphal heir ‘Umdat al-Dawla. Jafar A.MS.491; Album B266 RRR; ICV 464. Near VF. Very rare.

($750)

‘Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mustadi. AH 566-575 / AD 1170-1180. AV Dinar (26mm, 1.29g, 9h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 574 / AD 1178/9. Lavoix 1274; Album 267 RR. Flan crack; struck on a very thin flan with much ghosting visible in fields. Good VF. Rare. ($500)

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138.

Umayyads of Spain. ‘Abd al-Rahman III ibn Muhammad. As Caliph, AH 316-350 / AD 929-961. AV Dinar (19.2mm, 4.12g, 3h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 321 / AD 933. Obverse field: Muhammad at bottom. Reverse field: plain at top. Cf Miles 200a (annulet at top of reverse field); Vives -. Minor marks in reverse field. Near EF. Rare.

($2000)

Ex Aureo & Calico (Barcelona) Auction 353 (21 October 2021), lot 412. Vives knew only of mintless dinars for this date.

139.

Umayyads of Spain. al-Hakam II ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman. AH 350-366 / AD 961-976. AV Dinar (20.0mm, 4.02g, 1h). Madinat al-Zahra mint. Dated AH 357 / AD 967/8. Obverse field: sexfoil at top, ‘Amir at bottom. Reverse field: al-hajib / Ja‘far at top and bottom. Miles 250a; Vives 467. Good VF. Rare.

($1500)

Ex Tauler y Fau (Madrid) Auction 84 (11 May 2021), lot 6096.

140.

Umayyads of Spain. al-Hakam II ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman. AH 350-366 / AD 961-976. AV Dinar (20.6mm, 3.74g, 3h). Madinat al-Zahra mint. Dated AH 358 / AD 968/9. Obverse field: quatrefoil at top, ‘Amir at bottom. Reverse field: al-Hajib / Ja‘far at top and bottom. Miles 251d; Vives 469. Die rust evident on reverse. Good VF. Rare.

($2000)

Ex Tauler y Fau (Madrid) Auction 84 (11 May 2021), lot 6097.

141.

Umayyads of Spain. al-Hakam II ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman. AH 350-366 / AD 961-976. AV Dinar (22.1mm, 4.42g, 1h). Madinat al-Zahra mint. Dated AH 359 / AD 969/70. Obverse field: Eight-pointed star at top, ‘Amir at bottom. Reverse field: al-Hajib / Ja‘far at top and bottom. Miles 252b; Vives 471. Marginal weakness on both sides (possibly where a mount has been removed). VF. Rare. ($1000)

Ex Baldwin’s of St James’s (London) Auction 4 (9 May 2017), lot 328.

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142.

Umayyads of Spain. al-Hakam II ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman. AH 350-366 / AD 961-976. AV Dinar (22.8mm, 3.95g, 7h). Madinat al-Zahra mint. Dated AH 359 / AD 969/970. Obverse field: Eight-pointed star above, ’Amir below. Reverse field: al-Hajib / Ja‘far above and below. Miles 252b; Vives 471. EF. Rare.

($1500)

Ex Tauler & Fau (Madrid) Auction 84 (11 May 2021), lot 6098.

143.

Umayyads of Spain. Hisham II ibn al-Hakam. First reign, AH 366-399 / AD 976-1009. AV Dinar (22.8mm, 3.70g, 7h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 388 / AD 998. Obverse field: Eight-pointed star at top. Reverse field: Triplet of pellets at top. Cf Miles 313a (annulet instead of triplet of pellets at top of reverse field); Vives 537. Good VF. Rare. ($1000)

Ex Aureo & Calico (Barcelona) Auction 353 (21 October 2020), lot 413.

144.

Umayyads of Spain. Hisham II ibn al-Hakam. First reign, AH 366-399 / AD 976-1009. AV Dinar (21.6mm, 3.44g, 5h). Al-Andalus mint. Dated AH 391 / AD 1000/1. Obverse field: Branch at top, Muhammad at bottom. Reverse field: Eight-pointed star at top, ‘Amir at bottom. Cf Miles 320c (with two annulets instead of eight-pointed star at top of reverse field). Tiny gold stud set in centre of obverse field. Good VF. Well-struck for the issue and rare. ($1000)

Ex Baldwin’s of St James’s (London) Auction 4 (9 May 2017), lot 329.

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Extremely Rare Dinar of the ‘Wolf King’

145.

Kings of Murcia (post-Almoravid). Muhammad ibn Sa‘d. AH 542-567 / AD 1147-1171. AV Dinar (24.7mm, 3.83g, 1h). Balansiya (Valencia) mint. Dated AH 545 / AD 1150/1. Obverse field: Muhammad ibn / Sa‘d in fourth and fifth lines Album 407.1 RRR; cf Aureo & Calico (Barcelona) Auction 275 (10 March 2016), lot 22. Good VF. Extremely rare, and apparently a unique variety. ($10,000)

Ex Marti Hervera & Soler y Llach (Barcelona) auction 1115 (15 October 2020), lot 352. Muhammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Mardanish, known from contemporary Christian sources as Rex Lupus the ‘Wolf King’, took advantage of the decline of Almoravid control in the region to establish himself as King of Murcia in AH 542 / AD 1147/8. The first months of his reign saw him suppress a rebellion led by a relative, Yusuf b. Hilal, whom Muhammad ibn Sa‘d defeated and captured in AH 543. Muhammad threatened to blind his kinsman unless he agreed to surrender his fortress of Moratalla. Yusuf refused, and Muhammad accordingly ordered for his right eye to be gouged out. Muhammad now approached Yusuf’s wife, demanding that she should surrender Moratalla unless she wished to see her husband blinded in front of her. Showing greater fortitude than sympathy for Yusuf’s plight, she likewise refused to obey Muhammad’s order, Muhammad duly blinded Yusuf and threw him into prison where, perhaps unsurprisingly, he died later in AH 543. In AH 544 / AD 1149/50, it is recorded that Muhammad signed a treaty with the Republic of Genoa, which had established outposts at Tortosa and Almeria. Under this agreement, which was to last for ten years, he undertook to pay 15,000 Almoravid dinars as tribute (although the treaty also stipulates that this sum was to be paid in a combination of coins and precious silks), and also to permit the Genoese to establish trading posts at Denia and Valencia. Muhammad struck very few dinars at Valencia, and it is possible that the coin offered here was struck as a result of his treaty with the Genoese. This coin, on which the whole of the reverse field and part of the obverse field are rendered in handsome naskhi script to compliment the Kufic of the margins, appears to be a unique variety; the specimen of this mint and date sold by Aureo & Calico in 2016 bears Kufic script only.

146.

Almoravid Taifas. Anonymous. AV Dinar (27.2mm, 3.89g, 9h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 550 / AD 1155/6. Obverse field: la ilaha illa Allah | Muhammad rasul Allah | al-amr kullihu lillah la | quwwa illa billah. Cf Vives 2001-2; Album 405. Near EF. Very rare. ($3000)

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A Splendid Dinar of Granada

147.

Nasrids of Granada. Muhammad VII ibn Yusuf II. AH 794-810 / AD 1392-1408. AV Dinar (30.3mm, 4.68g, 12h). Madinat Gharnata (Granada) mint. Undated. Obverse: Mint-name in second and third segments. Reverse: Ruler’s name and titles in field. Lorente 13; Album A412. Slight double-striking on obverse. EF. Extremely rare.

($5000)

Ex Baldwin’s of St James’s (London) Auction 37 (25 September 2019), lot 226.

148.

Aghlabids. ‘Abd Allah II ibn Ibrahim II. AH 289-290 / AD 902-903. AV Dinar (17.8mm, 4.19g, 1h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 290 / AD 902/3. Al-‘Ush 147; Bernardi 143. Near EF. Rare, the only year for which dinars of this short-lived ruler are known. ($500)

The Fall of the Aghlabids

149.

Aghlabids. Ziyadat Allah III ibn ‘Abdallah II. AV Dinar (17.3mm, 4.23g, 5h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 296 / AD 908/9. Al-‘Ush 159; Bernardi 146. Near EF. Extremely rare.

($7500)

This is the final year in which Aghlabid gold was struck. Ziyadat Allah III fled North Africa in Jumada II of AH 296 as the forces of Abu ‘Abdallah al-Shi’i, the Fatimid partisan, closed in on Qayrawan.

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150.

151.

152.

151

150

Almoravids (al-Murabitun). Abu Bakr ibn ‘Umar. AH 448-480 / AD 1056-1087. AV Dinar (23.5mm, 4.12g, 10h). Sijilmasa mint. Dated AH 451 / AD 1059/60. Hazard 27. Good VF. Rare early date.

($750)

Almoravids (al-Murabitun). ‘Ali ibn Yusuf. AH 500-537 / AD 1107-1142. AV Dinar (24.9mm, 4.12g, 10h). Aghmat mint. Dated AH 500 / AD 1106/7. Hazard 152. Good VF. Scarce.

($500)

Almoravids (al-Murabitun). ‘Ali ibn Yusuf. AH 500-537 / AD 1107-1142. AV Dinar (25.7mm, 4.08g, 5h). Ighranata (Granada) mint. Dated AH 521 / AD 1127. Hazard 255. Creased. VF. Rare.

($1000)

Ex Morton & Eden (London) Auction 1206 (24 June 2021), lot 199.

153.

154.

155.

156.

154 153 Almoravids (al-Murabitun). ‘Ali ibn Yusuf. AH 500-537 / AD 1107-1142. AV Dinar (23.4mm, 3.26g, 5h). Ishbiliya (Seville) mint. Dated AH 524 / AD 1129/30. Hazard 341. VF. Rare.

($1000)

Almoravids (al-Murabitun). ‘Ali ibn Yusuf. AH 500-537 / AD 1107-1142. AV Dinar (26.4mm, 4.19g, 11h). Marrakush mint. Dated AH 518 / AD 1124/5. Hazard 197. Near EF. Rare.

($750)

155 156 Almohads (al-Muwahhidun). Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Mu’min. AH 524-558 / AD 1130-1163. AV Half-Dinar (19.5mm, 2.31g, 12h). Sabta mint. Undated (struck after AH 541). Mint name below field on both sides. Hazard 451. Near EF. Scarce.

($300)

Almohads (al-Muwahhidun). Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Mu’min. AH 524-558 / AD 1130-1163. AV Half-Dinar (20.3mm, 2.29g, 12h). Miknasa (Meknes) mint. Undated (struck after AH 541). Mint-name below field on both sides. Hazard 464. Near EF. Rare.

($500)

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157.

157 158 Almohads (al-Muwahhidun). Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf I. AH 558-580 / AD 1163-1184. AV Half-Dinar (22.1mm, 1.90g, 12h). Without mint-name. Undated. Four-line legend both sides. Hazard 495. Small scrape on obverse. Good VF.

($300)

158.

Almohads (al-Muwahhidun). Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf II. AH 610-621 / AD 1213-1224. AV Dinar (30.7mm, 4.30g, 12h). Without mint-name. Undated. A hybrid combining the obverse of Hazard 506, with al-Khilfatayn in third segment, and the reverse of Hazard 522. Hazard H4. Minor edge marks. VF. Rare. ($750)

159.

Tulunids. Khumarawayh bin Ahmad. AH 270-282 / AD 884-896. AV Dinar (21.7mm, 3.60g, 2h). Halab mint. Dated AH 279 / AD 892/3. Citing the caliph al-Mu‘tadid. Bernardi 213Gb; Grabar 57. Edge clip. Near VF. Rare.

160.

161.

159

160

($750)

Tulunids. Khumarawayh bin Ahmad. AH 270-282 / AD 884-896. AV Dinar (22.5mm, 4.41g, 5h). Filastin mint. Dated AH 281 / AD 894/5. Bernardi 213Gn; Grabar 65. VF. Rare.

($1000)

162

161

Ikhshidids. Muhammad al-Ikhshid. AH 323-334 / AD 935-946. AR Medallic Dirham (24.5mm, 3.28g, 8h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 332 / AD 943/4. Obverse margin: la ilaha illa Allah Muhammad rasul Allah. Obverse field: lillah / al-Muttaqi / lillah Reverse margin: bismillah duriba sanat ithnayn wa thalathin wa thalath mi’at Reverse field: billah / al-Ikhshid / al-nasir. Unpublished. Broken in half and repaired, some staining, otherwise Good VF. Apparently unique.

($500)

This presentation coin was probably struck to mark the military successes of Muhammad b. Tughj, who is named here with the title ‘alIkhshid.’ The caliph al-Muttaqi had fled to the Hamdanid court in AH 331, but found himself compelled to retreat to Raqqa after fighting broke out between the Hamdanids and the forces of the mamluk Tuzun. From Raqqa, al-Muttaqi wrote seeking aid from Muhammad b. Tughj, who set out from Egypt in Ramadan of 332 AH. Marching through Syria, he successfully recaptured a number of cities which had previously fallen under Hamdanid control, before finally meeting al-Muttaqi early in AH 333.

162.

Ikhshidids. Abu’l-Qasim Unujur. AH 334-349 / AD 946-960. AV Dinar (22.4mm, 3.68g, 10h). Misr mint. Dated AH 338 / AD 949/50. Bacharach 55. EF.

($300)

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A Medallic Striking on a Broad Flan

163.

Ikhshidids. Abu’l-Qasim Unujur. AH 334-349 / AD 946-960. AV Donative Dinar (26.1mm, 4.24g, 8h). Misr mint. Dated AH 346 / AD 957/8. With letter kaf for Kafur below the fifth line of obverse field. Cf Bacharach 64, for a standard dinar of this mint and date. Near EF. Excessively rare.

($5000)

Ex Morton & Eden Auction 54 (23 April 2012), lot 114. The year AH 346 appears to be a particularly rare date for Ikhshidid coinage from Egypt, with only a single specimen recorded by Bacharach (unfortunately the diameter of this piece is not noted).The letter kaf below the reverse is generally accepted as an abbreviation for the name of Kafur, an Abyssinian eunuch who had been bought as a slave by Muhammad al-Ikhshid ‘from the sellers of oil for eighteen dinars.’ While it is possible that Kafur himself may already have held de facto power in Egypt and Palestine for a decade before this coin was struck, Bacharach argues that it was only in AH 346 that Kafur felt able to allude to his power by placing the first letter of his name on the coinage. This beautiful coin, which was carefully struck on a specially-prepared, broad flan, may have been specially struck to promote Kafur’s new status.

The Earliest Fatimid Gold Coin

164.

Fatimids. temp. Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Shi’i. AH 296-297 / AD 909-911. AV Dinar (18.6mm, 4.15g, 8h). Al-Qayrawan mint. Dated AH 296 / AD 908/9. With additional legends al-hamdu lillah and rabb al-‘alamayn in reverse field. Nicol 2. Small test-mark on rim. Near VF. Extremely rare.

($15,000)

Qayrawan was captured for the Fatimids in AH 296 by Abu ‘Abdallah al-Shi’i, a staunch supporter of the Fatimid cause who had long fought and intrigued against the Aghlabids in North Africa. Al-Mahdi was duly recognized as Fatimid caliph in AH 297, but he soon came to view the man who paved his way to power as a threat and arranged for al-Shi’i to be murdered in AH 298.

COLLECTORS of FATIMID COINS See lot 149, above, for an Aghlabid dinar dated AH 296, struck in Qayrawan before its capture by Abu ‘Abdallah al-Shi’i later in this year. 49

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165.

Fatimids. al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah. AH 341-365 / AD 953-975. AV Dinar (22.9mm, 4.20g, 5h). Al-Mansuriya mint. Dated AH 342 / AD 943/4. Obverse: Three concentric circular legends, the middle reading: muhiya sunna Muhammad wa sayyid al-mursilin wa warith majd al-‘umma al-mahdiyin. Reverse: Three concentric circular legends, the middle reading: wa ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib wasiyy al-rasul na’b al-fadul wa zawj al-zahra al-batul. Nicol 388. Superb EF. Rare, and an exceptional example of this attractive and short-lived type.. ($5000)

Between AH 341 and 343, Fatimid coins struck at al-Mansuriya bore the additional legends transcribed above: ‘And ‘Ali b. Abi Talib is the Chosen One of the Prophet, and His most excellent representative, and the husband of the Radiant Chaste One, Renewer of the Sunna of Muhammad, Lord of Messengers, and heir of the glory of the Community of the Mahdis.’ It has been suggested that this robust Shi‘ite declaration proved unpopular in the Fatimid lands, since it was removed from the coinage after AH 343.

166.

Fatimids. al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah. AH 341-365 / AD 953-975. AV Quarter-Dinar (16mm, 1.06g, 10h). Tarablus mint. Dated AH 364 / AD 974/5. Nicol 330. Good VF. Extremely rare.

($4000)

This is the earliest date for Fatimid gold coins from the mint of Tarablus: Tripoli, on the Lebanese coast.

167 168 Fatimids. al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. AH 386-411 / AD 996-1021. AV Dinar (21.6mm, 4.23g, 8h). Al-Mahdiya mint. Dated AH 413 / AD 1022/3. Posthumous issue. With al-Rahim at the end of the third line of reverse field. Nicol 1257a. Edge marks and slight crease. Near VF. Rare; Nicol records only a single example of this variety. ($500) 167.

168.

169.

Fatimids. al-Zahir li-I’zaz Din Allah. AH 411-427 / AD 1021-1036. AV Dinar (21.8mm, 4.18g, 3h). Misr mint. Dated AH 416 / AD 1025/6. Nicol 1518. Probably once ring-mounted. Near EF.

Fatimids. al-Mustansir billah. AH 427-487 / AD 1036-1094. AV Dinar (22.8mm, 4.20g, 12h). Halab mint. Dated AH 442 / AD 1050/1. Nicol 1707. Good VF. Rare.

($300)

($4000)

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170 170.

171.

172.

171

Fatimids. al-Mustansir billah. AH 427-487 / AD 1036-1094. AV Dinar (22.7mm, 3.67g, 9h). Sur (Tyre) mint. Dated AH 468 / AD 1075/6. Nicol 1943. Traces of mounting. Fine. Rare date.

($300)

Fatimids. al-Mustansir billah. AH 427-487 / AD 1036-1094. AV Dinar (22mm, 3.84g, 6h). Tarablus mint. Dated AH 449 / AD 1057/8. Nicol 2004. Struck from rusty dies. Near EF. Scarce.

($500)

Fatimids. al-Mustansir billah. AH 427-487 / AD 1036-1094. AV Dinar (21.9mm, 3.27g, 9h). Filastin mint. Dated AH 440 / AD 1048/9. Nicol 2068. Slightly ragged edge. Near EF. Rare.

($2000)

An Extremely Rare Dinar from ‘Asqalan

173.

Fatimids. al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah. AH 495-524 / AD 1101-1130. AV Dinar (22.1mm, 4.15g, 8h). ‘Asqalan mint. Dated AH 505 / AD 1111/2. Nicol 2502. Tiny nick in reverse field. EF. Extremely rare.

($7500)

A key Palestinian port city, ‘Asqalan was was one of the last Byzantine cities in the region to fall to the victorious Muslims, being finally captured around AH 19 / AD 640 by the future Umayyad caliph, Mu‘awiya b. Abi Sufyan. The Byzantines retook the city during the 60s / 680s, but ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwan recaptured and refortified it a few years later. ‘Asqalan remained in Muslim hands thereafter, and the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi (AH 158-169) constructed a mosque there. Under the Fatimids, ‘Asqalan became an important frontier city on the borders of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. As well as its military and strategic significance, ‘Asqalan acquired a particular religious significance under the Fatimids. An inscription from the time of al-Mustansir dated AH 484 recalls that the severed head of Husayn b. ‘Ali was rediscovered there by the Fatimid grand vizier, Badr al-Jamali, who accordingly constructed a new mosque and shrine for it. The minbar from this mosque is still extant, and survives today in the Sanctuary of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The head itself remained in situ until AH 548 / AD 1153/4, when it was removed to the safety of Cairo following the surrender of ‘Asqalan to the forces of King Baldwin III. The shrine itself was destroyed in 1950, but a small marble mosque was subsequently built on the site half a century later.

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174 174.

175.

176.

Fatimids. al-Hafiz li-Din Allah. AH 526-544 / AD 1131-1149. AV Dinar (21.3mm, 4.27g, 12h). Misr mint. Dated AH 536 / AD 1141/2. Nicol 2627. Near EF. Scarce.

178.

($750)

Crusaders, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. AR Dirham (21.3mm, 2.90g, 11h). Akka (Acre) mint. Dated AD 1251 (in Arabic). Balog & Yvon 45. Minor edge splits. Near EF.

($500)

178

Ayyubids. al-Nasir I Salah al-Din Yusuf (Saladin). AH 564-589 / AD 1169-1193. AV Dinar (21mm, 9h). Al-Qahira (Cairo) mint. Dated AH 572 / AD 1176/7. Three concentric marginal legends on each side. Balog 14; Album 785.1 (the Album reference given on the ANACS holder is incorrect). In ANACS encapsulation. Graded EF 40.

180.

($500)

Ayyubids. al-Nasir I Salah al-Din Yusuf (Saladin). AH 564-589 / AD 1169-1193. AV Dinar (20mm, 10h). Al-Qahira (Cairo) mint. Dated AH 583. Balog 43; Album 785.2. In ANACS encapsulation (the date and Album reference given on the ANACS holder are both incorrect). Graded EF 45. ($500)

179 179.

($500)

Fatimids. al-‘Adid li-Din Allah. AH 555-567 / AD 1160-1171. AV Dinar (20.6mm, 4.26g, 9h). Misr mint. Dated AH 562 / AD 1166/7. Nicol 2697 (citing two specimens of this mint and date). Near EF. Rare.

177 177.

175

180

Mamluks. al-Muzaffar Sayf al-Din Qutuz. AH 657-658 / AD 1259-1260. AV Dinar (23.1mm, 6.98g, 8h). Al-Iskandariya mint. Dated AH 658 / AD 1259/60. Balog 22. VF. Scarce.

($500)

Mamluks. al-Muzaffar Sayf al-Din Hajji I. AH 747-748 / AD 1346-1347. AV Dinar (24.7mm, 6.31g, 8h). Dimashq mint. Dated AH 748 / AD 1347, month of al-Muharram. Cf Balog 306; cf Morton & Eden (London) Auction 1206 (24 June 2021), lot 322 (same reverse die). Struck a little off-centre. Choice EF. Some lustre remaining. Rare. ($1000) 52

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Six Dinars from the mint of ‘Uman

181.

182.

183.

184.

Mukramids. Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Mukram. Circa AH 408-411 / AD 1017-1020. AV Dinar (23.1mm, 4.21g, 2h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 411 / AD 1020/1. Album M1164 RRR; Oman p. 37. VF. Extremely rare.

($2500)

Mukramids. Nasir al-Din. Circa AH 411-427 / AD 1020-1036. AV Dinar (24.5mm, 5.16g, 5h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 416 / AD 1025/6. Album 1164; Oman p. 38. Buckled flan. Near EF. Very rare.

($2000)

Mukramids. Nasir al-Din. Circa AH 411-427 / AD 1020-1036. AV Dinar (24.6mm, 4.87g, 1h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 420 / AD 1029/30. Album 1164; Oman -. Struck from rusty dies. Good VF. Rare.

($1500)

Mukramids. Nasir al-Din. Circa AH 411-427 / AD 1020-1036. AV Dinar (25.8mm, 4.77g, 1h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 422 / AD 1031. Album 1164. VF. Rare.

($1500)

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185.

186.

Mukramids. Nasir al-Din. Circa AH 411-427 / AD 1020-1036. AV Dinar (23.1mm, 4.28g, 6h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 427. Album 1164; Oman p. 39. Near EF. Rare.

($2000)

Buwayhids (Buyids). ‘Imad al-Din Marzuban Abu Kalijar. AH 415-440 / AD 1024-1048. AV Dinar (23.3mm, 5.50g, 12h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 432 / AD 1040/1. Treadwell Um432G; Oman p.138. Near VF.

($1500)

187 187.

Samanids. Isma’il I ibn Ahmad. AH 279-295 / AD 892-907. AV Dinar (21.6mm, 4.08g, 1h). Samarqand mint. Dated AH 282 / AD 895/6. Reverse field: Isma‘il below. Bernardi 221Qe RRR. Buckled flan. VF. A very rare one year type.

188

($500)

188.

Samanids. Ahmad II ibn Ismail. AH 295-301 / AD 907-914. AV Dinar (23.7mm, 4.26g, 11h). Al-Shash mint. Dated AH 298 / AD 910/11. Bernardi 267Qf RRR. EF. Extremely rare, just a single specimen of this mint and date recorded by Bernardi. ($750)

189.

Samanids. Nasr II ibn Ahmad. AH 301-331 / AD 914-943. AV Dinar (26.3mm, 3.67g, 4h). Madinat Amul mint. Dated AH 330 / AD 941/2. Obverse field: lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd / wa huwa ‘ala kull shay qadir Reverse field: al-Radi billah (sic) / Nasr b. Ahmad. Bernardi 302La RR; Stern, Amul 14. Good Fine. Rare.

($750)

It appears that the Samanids did not in fact control Amul in the year this coin was stuck, and Stern suggests that it was struck by the rebellious Wushmgir, who ‘displayed on his coins his fictitious allegiance to the Samanids while besieged by their armies’ (Stern, p. 223). The additional legend in the obverse field, from Qur’an lxiv, 1, is also found on Samanid dinars struck at Amul, al-Muhammadiya and Hamadan dated AH 327.

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191

190 190.

191.

192.

193.

194.

Samanids. Nasr II ibn Ahmad. AH 301-331 / AD 914-943. AV Dinar (23.1mm, 4.16g, 7h). Samarqand mint. Dated AH 312 / AD 924/5. Cf Bernardi 269Qe (this date not listed). VF. Extremely rare and apparently unpublished.

($750)

Samanids. Nasr II ibn Ahmad. AH 301-331 / AD 914-943. AV Dinar (25.2mm, 3.39g, 2h). Qazwin mint. Dated AH 328 / AD 939/40. Bernardi 300MK RR. Centres weak. VF. Very rare mint.

($750)

192

193

Samanids. Nasr II ibn Ahmad. AH 301-331 / AD 914-943. AV Dinar (27.8mm, 4.17g, 2h). Al-Muhammadiya mint. Dated AH 321 / AD 933. Presentation type with four pairs of annulets interspersed with scrolls in outer margins on both sides. Bernardi 282Mh RRR. VF. Rare.

($500)

Buwayhids (Buyids). Sultan al-Dawla Abu Shuja’. AH 403-415 / AD 1012-1024. AV Dinar (25.7mm, 3.35g, 12h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 408 / AD 1017/8. Treadwell Ms408G. Edge shaved. Good VF. Rare.

($500)

Uncertain dynasty (possibly Buwayhid). AV Quarter-Dinar (14mm, 1.22g, 6h). Mint off-flan. Dated ‘86’ (probably for AH 386 / AD 996). Legends similar to those used on Umayyad dirhams, with the Surat al-Ikhlas in reverse field. Loop-mounted. VF. Of the highest rarity and apparently unpublished.

($500)

Although this coin lacks the name of a caliph or any other issuer, the use of the Surat al-Ikhlas is characteristic of Buwayhid issues. A spectacular Buwayhid 10-dinar piece similarly copies Umayyad dirhams for its legends and design (vide Morton & Eden (London) auction 73 (23 April 2015), lot 166), and for a comparable silver fractional dirham vide Morton & Eden (London) auction 85 (27 April 2017), lot 534.

195.

Kakwayhids. Ala al-Dawla Muhammad. AH 398-433 / AD 1008-1041. AV Dinar (18.2mm, 2.68g, 7h). Isbahan mint. Dated AH 427 / AD 1035/6. Album 1590. Clipped. Good VF. Rare.

($500)

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197

196

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199.

Great Seljuks. Mu’izz al-Din Ahmad Sanjar. AH 511-552 / AD 1118-1157. AV Dinar (25.9mm, 4.16g, 2h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 514 / 1120/1. Obverse legends sinilar to Jafar S.MS.513F / Reverse legends similar to Jafar S.MS.513E. Near VF. Apparently an unpublished variety. ($500)

200.

Seljuks of Kirman. Ahmad Qawurd (Qara Arslan). AH 440-465 / AD 1048-1073. AR Dirham (24.5mm, 3.75g, 12h). Barjash mint. Dated AH 443 / AD 1051/2. Citing Chaghri Beg as overlord. Album 1698 RR. VF. Excessively rare and apparently unpublished.

($1000)

201.

Seljuks of Western Iran. Ghiyath al-Din Mas’ud. AH 529-547 / AD 1134-1152. AV Dinar (25mm, 2.95g, 1h). ‘Askar mint. Dated AH 532 / AD 1137/8. Obverse field: la ilaha illa Allah / wahdahu la sharik lahu / al-Rashid billah / al-Sultan / Sanjar. Reverse field: lillah / Muhammad rasul Allah al-Sultan al-mu’azzam / Mu’izz al-dunya wa’l-din / Abu’l-Fath Mas‘ud / nasrahu. Cf Morton & Eden (London) Auction 107 (22 October 2020), lot 87. Polished. VF. Extremely rare. ($500)

202.

Atabegs of Khuzistan. Husam al-Din Ildeghizi. Circa. AH 550-570 / AD 1155-75. AV Dinar (25.4mm, 2.55g, 8h). ‘Askar mint. Dated AH 503 (sic, for AH 553 / AD 1158/9). Citing the Abbasid caliph al-Mustanjid and the two Great Seljuk brothers Arslan b. Tughril and Muhammad b. Tughril. Album 1921K RRR. Some weak striking and die rust visible on reverse. Near EF. Very rare. ($750)

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203 203.

204

Danishmendids (Sivas). Malik Muhammad. AH 528-536 / AD 1134-1142. Æ Dirham (28mm, 5.22g, 5h). Obverse: KAIA[N] / ATOA[C] / MAXA[M] / ATI[C] in four lines. Reverse: OMM / ΛHKICP / ACHCP[ω] / MAN[IAC] in four lines. Whelan Type A; Album 1238. VF. Rare, and well-struck for the issue.

($500)

Ex Classical Numismatic Group Auction 88 (14 September 2011), lot 1792.

204.

205.

Seljuks of Rum. Mu’izz al-Din Qaysarshah. Malik, circa AH 582-590s / AD 1186-1190s. Æ Fals (32mm, 12.41g, 10h). Horseman type A. Without mint or date. Broome 38A; Album 1196; ICV –; Zeno 209536 = Horizon I, lot 432 (same dies). Earthen green patina. Good VF. Extremely rare, only the Horizon specimen in CoinArchives.

Seljuks of Rum. ‘Ala al-Din Kay Qubadh I bin Kay Khusraw. As Sultan, AH 616-634 / AD 1219-1237. AV Dinar (21.2mm, 4.34g, 10h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 624 / AD 1226/7. Obverse: Ruler’s name and titles Reverse: Date in three lines; name and titles of the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir billah around. Album A1211.1 RRR; Izmirlier 197. Small test-mark on edge. Good VF. Extremely rare. ($2500)

206 206.

($500)

207

Seljuks of Rum. Kay Ka’us II, Qilich Arslan IV, & Kay Qubadh II. Joint rule, AH 647-655 / AD 1249-1257. AV Dinar (25mm, 12h). Qunya mint. Dated AH 648 / AD 1250/1. Mint and date below obverse field. ICV 1348; Album A1227; Tevhid 1286. In ANACS encapsulation. Graded MS 63. ($1000)

Ex Heritage Auction 231814 (5 April 2018), lot 61250.

207.

Zangids (al-Mawsil). Nur al-Din Arslan Shah II. AH 615-616 / AD 1218-1219. AV Dinar (27mm, 7.25g, 2h). Al-Mawsil mint. Dated AH 616 / AD 1219/20. Album 1868 RR (’dated 615 only’). VF. Apparently an unpublished date for dinars of this short-lived ruler. ($750)

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Impressive Silver ‘Curse Coin’ from Kurraman

208.

Mongols. Great Khans. temp. Ögedei. AH 624-639 / AD 1227-1241. AR Multiple Dirham (28.5mm, 16.12 g). Balad Al-Kurraman mint. Obverse: Fi al-balad al-Kurraman (’In the city of Kurraman’) in two lines, double linear border containing pellets around. Reverse: har ki na sta- / nad gunahgar na / shad ( ‘Whosoever does not accept it will not be a sinner’) in three lines, double linear border containing pellets around. Zeno #285665 (this piece); cf. CNG Triton auction XXIV, 19 January 2021, lot 1231. Edge split. VF. Of the highest rarity, believed unique. ($15,000)

The town of Kurraman was situated in the Kurram Valley, through which the Kurram river flows on its way to joining the Indus. It appears to have been active as a mint during the first part of the 7/13th centuries, initially under the Khwarezmshahs and subsequently under the Great Mongols. As well as modest jitals, Kurraman produced several magnificent silver multiple dirham coins, including the unpublished specimen offered here. Kurraman itself was, nominally at least, under the rule of the Mongol Great Khans at the time these coins were issued. Remarkably for such an impressive object, however, the present coin bears the name of no political or religious authority, and is entirely anonymous. The obverse simply states ‘In the city of Al-Kurraman,’ and the reverse bears the remarkable admonition that ‘Whosoever does not accept it will not be a sinner.’ It has been suggested that this double-negative may have been a deliberate attempt to cancel the threatening legends found on other gold and silver coins from Kurraman, which state that anyone refusing to accept them is a sinner, but it seems equally possible that the short word na has simply been repeated in error. Whoever issued this coin seems to have decided that a simple proclamation that the citizens of Kurraman had to accept it - or else - would be more effective than an appeal to the authority of a far-distant secular ruler. Given that the coin itself is of good silver, we can only speculate as to why such compulsion may have been thought necessary. Interestingly, however, we see a different approach used for the splendid silver 10-dirham coins struck at Kurraman in AH 641, which dutifully acknowledge the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Musta‘sim, living thousands of miles away in Baghdad and completely devoid of any secular influence in the Kurram Valley whatsoever. Perhaps the tradition of coins being issued on the authority of someone was so deeply rooted that even the threatening legend on this coin could not overcome it.

209.

210.

209 210 Ottoman Empire. Sulayman I Qanuni (‘the Lawgiver’). AH 926-974 / AD 1520-1566. AV Sultani (19mm, 3.46g, 4h). Qaratova mint. Dated AH 926 / AD 1520/1. Pere 179. VF. Rare.

($1000)

Ottoman Empire. Murad III. AH 982-1003 / AD 1574-1595. AV Dinar (33.4mm, 4.23g, 12h). Tilimsan (Tlemcen) mint. Dated AH 995 / AD 1586/7. Album 1331; Sultan 9658. Toned, minor marginal weakness. EF.

($500)

These Ottoman dinars from Tilimsan were struck to the same weight standard as contemporary Ziyanid dinars, which they also resemble in design, rather than to the weight of the Ottoman sultani.

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211.

212.

213.

214.

215.

216.

Ottoman Empire. Ahmad III. AH 1115-1143 / AD 1703-1730. AV Sultani (23.5mm, 3.44g, 11h). Tunis mint. Dated AH 1137 / AD 1724/5. KM 39. Faint traces of mounting on edge and minor marks on reverse. Near EF. Very rare.

212

Safavids. Tahmasp II. AH 1135-1145 / AD 1722-1732. AV Ashrafi (25mm, 3.50g, 4h). Isfahan mint. Dated AH 1144 / AD 1731/2. Album 2688. Near EF. Scarce.

213 ($500)

Qajars. Fath ‘Ali Shah. As Shah, AH 1212-1250 / AD 1797-1834. AV Toman (21.6mm, 6.12g, 8h). Type S1. Shiraz mint. Dated AH 1213 / AD 1798/9. Album 2859. Good VF. Rare.

214

($1500)

($1000)

215

Qajars. Fath ‘Ali Shah. As Shah, AH 1212-1250 / AD 1797-1834. AV Half-Toman (16.1mm, 3.07g, 10h). Type S1. Kirman mint. Dated AH 1213 / AD 1798/9. Album 2860 RR. Minor edge mark. Good VF. Rare.

($500)

Qajars. Fath ‘Ali Shah. As Shah, AH 1212-1250 / AD 1797-1834. AV Toman (21.3mm, 6.17g, 3h). Type S1. Lahijan mint. Dated AH 1213 / AD 1798/9. Album 2859. Good VF. Rare.

($750)

Qajars. Fath ‘Ali Shah. As Shah, AH 1212-1250 / AD 1797-1834. AV Toman (21mm, 6.12g, 4h). Type S1. Rikab mint. Dated AH 1214 / AD 1799/1800. Album 2859. Near EF. Very rare.

($2000)

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217 217.

218.

219.

218

Qajars. Fath ‘Ali Shah. As Shah, AH 1212-1250 / AD 1797-1834. AV Toman (23.8mm, 6.18g, 9h). Type S2. Khuy mint. Dated AH 1217 / AD 1802/3. Album 2860C RR. Near EF. Rare.

($750)

Qajars. Fath ‘Ali Shah. As Shah, AH 1212-1250 / AD 1797-1834. AV Toman (25.2mm, 6.17g, 7h). Type S2. Dar al-Ibada Yazd mint. Dated AH 1217 / AD 1802/3. Album 2860C. Near EF. Rare.

($750)

219

Qajars. Fath ‘Ali Shah. As Shah, AH 1212-1250 / AD 1797-1834. AV Toman (22.6mm, 4.68g, 5h). Type V. Tabriz mint. Dated AH 1228 / AD 1813. Ornate floral border around obverse field. Album 2864. Traces of mounting. Good VF. Rare.

220

($500)

The attractive floral border around the obverse is similar to that seen on the spectacular five-toman pieces produced at Tabriz in AH 1226 (Album T2683).

220.

Durrani Shahs. Zaman Shah. AH 1207-1215 / AD 1793-1800. AR Rupee (24.8mm, 10.71g, 10h). Umm al-Bilad Balkh mint. Dually dated AH 1208 (obverse) and AH ‘121’ (reverse). Album 3108; KM - (this mint not listed for Shah Zaman). Pin marks on reverse. Good VF. Rare. ($500)

221.

Durrani Shahs. Zaman Shah. AH 1207-1215 / AD 1793-1800. AV Nazarana mohur (28.6mm, 11.05g, 10h). Dar al-Sultanat Kabul. Dated AH 1209 / AD 1794/5. Regnal year 3. Cf KM 445 (not listed as a nazarana issue). Small edge mark and obverse flan fault. EF. Very rare.

($7500)

Ex Spink (London) Auction 12027 (4 December 2012), lot 588.

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222.

223.

223 222 INDIA, Mughal Empire. Muhyi al-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir. AH 1068-1118 / AD 1658-1707. AV Mohur (20.5mm, 11.01g, 8h). Burhanpur mint. Dated with regnal year 19 = AH 1085 / AD 1674/5. KM 315.16 (the reference given on the holder is incorrect). In NGC encapsulation. Graded MS 66. A beautiful example. ($1500) INDIA, Jaipur. Madho Singh II (AD 1880-1922), with Queen Victoria. AV Mohur (18.5mm, 10.87g, 11h). Sawai Jaipur mint. Dually dated AD 18xx and regnal year 12 / AD 1891. KM 150. Near EF. ($750)

A Unique and Historically Important Indian Rarity With Exceptional Provenance

224.

INDIA, Princely States. Awadh. temp. Birjis Qadr. AD 1857. AR Rupee (21.7mm, 11.17g, 2h). Struck in the name of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II. Suba Awadh mint. Year 20 = AD 1857. Obverse: Bahadur Shah Ghazi / Tirazi Siraj-ud-Din / Bazar zad sikka nusrat in three lines. Reverse: Maimanat / julus sanat 2 manus / zarb Suba Awadh in three lines; fish symbol in field. This coin published: Wiggins, K.W. and Sanjay Garg, ‘A Rupee of Suba Awadh in the name of Bahadur Shah Issued in 1857’ and ‘Suba Awadh Coin of Bahadur Shah: Further Note’, Numismatic Digest vols. X (1986), pp. 89-93 and XI (1987), pp. 123-6 . Choice EF. Apparently unique. ($50,000)

Ex Ken Wiggins Collection (Baldwin’s Auctions Ltd Auction 25, 8 May 2001,) lot 53. Birjis Qadr was born on 20 August 1845. His father, Wajid ‘Ali Shah, became King of Awadh in February 1847, inheriting a kingdom which was already in decline. Under the terms of a treaty signed with the British East India Company in 1801, Awadh had ceded half of her territory to the Company while also agreeing to disband her own army, undertaking instead to pay for the maintenance of the British-run army of the Bengal Presidency. These terms effectively made the Nawabs of Awadh vassals of the British East India Company, and Awadh became a British protectorate in 1816. However, Awadh remained nominally part of the Mughal Empire until 1818 when, at the instigation of Lord Hastings, Nawab Ghazi ud-Din Haidar declared his independence from Mughal sovereignty and assumed the title of Shah. The coinage of Awadh reflects these changes: coins struck at Lucknow until 1819 name the Mughal emperor only, while issues from 1819 onwards were struck in the name of Ghazi ud-Din Haidar Shah. By the 1850s, the British saw little need to maintain a nominally independent Awadh as a buffer against the Mughal Empire, and the British East India Company became increasingly keen to assume direct control of this rich and important state. A report published by the British Resident at Lucknow, General William Sleeman, described ‘maladministration’ and ‘lawlessness’ there, and under the terms of the prevailing treaties between Awadh and the British East India Company, the latter was entitled to assume management of the state should the King be incapable of ruling effectively. It was this proviso which the Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie, used to justify his decision to depose Wajid ‘Ali Shah on 7 February 1856. Modern scholarship paints a more nuanced picture of Wajid ‘Ali Shah, who was certainly more than the ‘fool of a king’ described by Sleeman, but his strengths and interests lay in the arts, of which he was a great patron, rather than being inclined to statecraft. The deposed Wajid ‘Ali Shah left Lucknow in 1856, travelling to Calcutta via Kanpur.

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Dalhousie’s annexation of Awadh fed into the prevailing sense of resentment against British rule which culminated in the outbreak of the Indian Rebellion in May 1857. The rebels quickly captured Delhi and on 12 May went to the elderly Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah, whom the British had kept in Delhi Fort as a pensioner of the East India Company, calling for him to acknowledge and lead them. At first, Bahadur Shah prevaricated, but he soon accepted that he had little choice but to throw in his lot with the rebels, and duly accepted their allegiance. In Awadh itself, patriotic resentment against the British was particularly strong in the aftermath of the state’s annexation in 1856. Lucknow was soon occupied by the rebels, with the exception of the British Residency, where the British community and their supporters held out for more than six months. With the recently-deposed Wahid ‘Ali Shah now in Calcutta, the leaders of the rebellion in Awadh turned to his eleven year-old son, Birjis Qadr, whom they installed as their nominal leader under the regency of his mother, Begum Hazrat Mahal. Because the rulers of Awadh had traditionally acknowledged Mughal overlordship until Lord Hastings’ intervention in 1818, a delegation was sent from Lucknow to Delhi to seek Bahadur Shah’s confirmation of Birjis Qadr as the new Nawab of Awadh. According to the statement given by Hakim Ahsanullah, personal physician to Bahadur Shah and who served as his chief minister during the Rebellion, a deputation of one hundred cavalry led by Risaldar Qudratullah Khan duly brought a petition from Awadh to Delhi, and was admitted into Bahadur Shah’s presence. Wiggins and Garg (pp. 124-5) preserve a report by Gauri Shankar, a British spy in Delhi, which not only describes Qudratullah Khan’s arrival at Bahadur Shah’s court, but even records the part of the content of the petition itself: ‘A petition of Qudratullah, son of Masru Khan, Risaldar, Lucknow, was received and presented before the King, the contents of which are as follows: “A son of Wajid ‘Ali Shah has been raised to the masnad (throne) of Lucknow on the condition that you may approve the arrangement and issue the coin struck in the name of your Majesty. The coin couplet is as follows: Bazar zad sikka nusarat tirazi Siraj-ud-din Bahadur Shah Ghazi.” It appears that a specimen of this coin, which Wiggins and Garg assumed to have been struck in gold, was presented to Bahadur Shah along with the petition. Hakim Ahsanullah subsequently stated that this piece was later given to the Commissioner of Delhi; if it was preserved in the aftermath of the Rebellion, its current whereabouts are unknown. Bahadur Shah accordingly gave his approval to the design, which Wiggins and Garg assert ‘would have been introduced on the following New Year’s Day had not other events intervened.’ These ‘other events’ included the recapture by the British of both Delhi (September 1857) and Lucknow (March 1858). That these coins were clearly so important to the delegation which sought Bahadur Shah’s confirmation of Birjis Qadr as Nawab of Awadh is a remarkable expression of the enduring power of the right of sikka: the formal expression of sovereignty through the right to be named on the Islamic precious metal coinage, which the Mughal emperors had held for centuries. Wiggins and Garg conclude that ‘the coin that was presented to the King was the same as ours, save that the metal was gold while ours is silver,’ and plausibly suggest that this piece represents a trial striking. As such, it is of considerable historical importance as a physical expression of the assertion of Indian sovereignty during the great events of the Rebellion of 1857.

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May 25, 2022

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Islamic Auction 1

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