Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1
Date: 2024-04-18 00:00:00
Lots: 199
Total starting: $ 0.00
Total realized: $ 0.00 (+0.00%)
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Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 1
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. al-Hakam b. Abi al-'As. Circa AH 54-58 / AD 674-677. AR Drachm (31.5mm, 4.07 g, 9h). BN (Bamm) mint. Dated AH 54 (AD 673/4). Obverse margin: bism- / Allah rabb al-hukm / - / -. Cf. Malek, Arab-Sasanian 228 (without bism- in obverse margin); SICA 1, -; Album 11. Die-break visible on reverse. Good VF. Rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 2
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. al-Hakam b. Abi al-'As. Circa AH 54-58 / AD 674-677. AR Drachm (31.4mm, 4.09 g, 4h). NAL (possibly Narmashir) mint. Dated AH 56 (AD 675/6). Obverse margin: bism- / Allah rabb al-hukm / - / -. Malek, Arab-Sasanian 915; SICA 1, 343 var. (without bism- in obverse margin); Album 11. Near EF, lightly toned. Rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 3
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Salm b. Ziyad. Circa AH 61-65 / AD 680-684. AR Dirham (32.6mm, 3.60 g, 2h). MLWLWT (Marw al-Rudh) mint. Dated AH 70 (sic) (AD 689/90). Obverse margin: [Hephthalite countermark] / bismillah ∴ / ∴ al-'Aziz / -. Cf. Malek, Arab-Sasanian 881-2 (without al-'Aziz in obverse margin; SICA 1, -; Album 18. Edge clip above bust. Good Fine. Rare. Malek records this variety with al-'Aziz in the obverse margin for the years AH 67 and 68, but apparently not for AH 70.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 4
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Abdallah b. Harith (or b. 'Ali). fl. late 60s / 680s. AR Drachm (31.9mm, 2.97 g, 3h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 66 (AD 685/6). Obverse margin: - / bin 'Ali ∵ / ∵ ✶ - / -. Malek, Arab-Sasanian p. 255; SCC 1752; cf. Weber, Arabo-Sasanidische Drachmen 195 (dated AH 65); SICA 1, -; Album 26N (as 'Abdallah b. 'Ariq). VF, small portion of edge repaired. Extremely rare. The identity of the governor on this coin remains the subject of scholarly debate. His first name, 'Abdallah, is unambiguous, but the Pahlawi form of his patronymic is ambiguous. It can be read either as ALYKAN or HLYKAN, which would equate to 'son of 'Ariq' or 'son of Harith' respectively. Malek notes that an 'Abdallah b. Harith was dismissed from his post as governor of Basra in AH 65, but found no evidence to connect this individual with the province of Sistan where these coins were issued (Malek, Arab Sasanian p. 255, s.vv. 'Abd Allah b. 'Ali and 'Abd Allah b. Harith). However, this is not quite correct: the local history of Sistan records that 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr 'gave Basra, Khurasan and Sistan to Harith b. 'Abdallah (sic)...[who], in turn, dispatched 'Abd al-'Aziz b. 'Abdallah b. 'Amir to Sistan.' That being so, it would be hardly surprising that drachms from Sistan struck in AH 65 and early 66 should have named 'Abdallah b. al-Harith himself, with those struck from later AH 66 onwards issued in the name of his viceroy, 'Abd al-'Aziz b. 'Abdallah b. 'Amir. But this does not explain the presence of the remarkable legend bin 'Ali in the obverse margin, which was only read when a new and better-preserved example of this extremely rare coinage came to light. This coin (SCC 1752) led Shams-Eshragh to propose the alternative reading of the governor's name as 'Abdallah b. 'Ali. While attractive, this requires a certain amount of special pleading to explain by the Pahlawi form of 'Ali should be rendered as ALYKAN with an unexpected letter K. Weber's suggestion that that this individual might have been an 'Abdallah b. 'Ali b. Husayn, a great-grandson of the fourth caliph 'Ali, is tantalising but speculative.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 5
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Bishr b. Marwan. fl. AH 73-75 / AD 692-694. AR Drachm (31.3mm, 3.96 g, 3h). 'Caliph Orans' type. AKWLA (Aqola, near Kufa) mint. Dated AH 74 (AD 693/4). Obverse margin: DYN / bismillah Muhammad / rasul Allah / - / / Reverse field: Standing bearded figure facing, wearing long elaborate robe, star to left and crescent to right of his head, flanked by two smaller figures wearing plain robes, their heads turned to face the central figure; date (in Pahlawi numerals) to left, mint to right. Treadwell, Orans Drachms A5-A6; Malek, Arab-Sasanian 13 var. (without DYN in obverse margin); SICA 1, p. 28; Album 27.1. EF, cleaned and with minor porosity but a splendid example of this extremely rare issue.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 6
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf and Bara b. Qabisa. AH 75-95 / AD 694-713. AR Drachm (31.3mm, 3.28 g, 2h). Jayy mint. Dated AH 76 (AD 695/6). Obverse field: Sasanian bust with al-Hajjaj bin / Yusuf in field to right. Obverse margin: bism / Allah / ☪︎ / la i- / laha i- / lla A- / ☪ / llah wa- / hdahu / Muhammad / ☪ / rasu- / l A- / llah / Reverse field: Fire-altar and attendants; sitt wa saba'in to left, Jayy to right. Reverse margin:duriba al-Bara bin / Qabisa / - / -. Malek, Arab-Sasanian fig. 9.25.2 = BN 1965.571 (same obverse die); SCC 159; cf. Morton & Eden auction 48 (4 April 2011), lot 7; Album J37. Minor cleaning marks. Good VF. Extremely rare. Al-Bara b. Qabisa al-Thaqafi was appointed governor of Isbahan in AH 76, succeeding 'Attab b. Warqa. He is only named on extremely rare drachms stuck at Jayy in this year, which name al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf, who was also a relation, on the obverse as his overlord. This is one of the first drachms struck in the name of al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf. The coin's design is still obviously Sasanian, with no modification of the bust on the obverse or the fire-altar and attendants on the reverse. But its legends and design mark a clear departure from previous Arab-Sasanian types, with the long shahada arranged radially in the obverse margin, and all the information on the coin written in Arabic rather than Pahlawi. Coins of this type were only struck at two mints: Jayy, as here, and al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon - 'The Two Cities'), and while al-Hajjaj continued to issue Arab-Sasanian drachms at a number of mints in Fars, their designs reverted thereafter to more traditional types. Drachms struck from AH 77 onwards reverted to using Pahlawi for the mint and date (although almost all still bore al-Hajjaj's name in Arabic), and the radial legends were replaced by shorter, more conventional inscriptions.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 7
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf. AH 75-95 / AD 694-713. AR Drachm (30.3mm, 3.80 g, 9h). BYŠ (Bishapur) mint. Dated AH 81 (AD 700/1). Obverse field: al-Hajjaj bin / Yusuf in two lines to right of bust, Obverse margin: - / lillah al-hamd :: / HAKAK ∵ / - / Reverse: pellet before mint-name; unit of date defectively written. Malek, Arab-Sasanian 351 (same obverse die); SICA 1, 229 var. (with GM monogram in reverse margin); Album 35.2. Good Fine, minor staining. Rare. As well as naming al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf in Arabic before the ruler's bust, this variety also carries his name in Pahlawi (as HAKAK) in the obverse margin.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 8
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Armenian. Hormizd IV type. After AH 72 / AD 692. AR Drachm (30.2mm, 2.78 g, 3h). Without mint-name (Sears Mint A - Barda'a or al-Bab?). Year '6' (struck circa AH 73-74 AD 692-694). Obverse margin: bismillah / la ilaha illa (sic, with Allah omitted) / Muhammad ra- / sul Allah Obverse field: Sasanian bust right with name of Hormizd before / Reverse: Fire-altar and attendants with vestigial date to left and denomination ZWZWN to right; rabbi Allah in margin at 3h. Album M97; cf. Sears, Transitional Drahms of the Umayyad North 1-2. Good VF for issue. Excessively rare. The legends on this piece are slightly blundered with Allah missing from the second quadrant of the obverse margin and the same word misspelled in the reverse margin. Some early Arab-Sasanian drachms were struck in the name of Yazdgird III, but the great majority of Arab-Sasanian drachms take the coinage of Khusraw II as their prototypes. This is an extremely rare example of the only known type which copies an issue of Hormizd IV. While the portrait is highly stylised, Hormizd's name is clearly rendered in Pahlawi on this specimen. The reverse of the coin bears the Pahlawi word ZWZWN, meaning 'drachm', where the mint-name is normally placed. The date, apparently 'Year 6', was presumably copied directly from the Sasanian prototype.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 9
Pre-reform issues, Tabaristan ('Abbasid governors). Abdallah b. 'Arif. AH 176 / AD 792. AR Hemidrachm (23.4mm, 1.73 g, 8h). TPWLSTAN (Tabaristan) mint. Dated PYE 141 = AH 176 (AD 792). Obverse: Sasanian bust with star right of crown; 'Abdallah to right of bust and bin 'Arif in second marginal quadrant. Malek 136; Album 70A. Good VF, toned. Very rare. This type, with the governor's patronymic in the obverse margin, was only struck in this year
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 10
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Byzantine. Gold issues. AV Solidus (19mm, 4.30 g, 6h). Without mint-name. Undated. [δδ NN hЄRAC] LIЧS ЄT hЄRA CONST PP AV (slightly blundered), Facing busts of Heraclius (to left, with long beard and moustache) and Heraclius Constantine (to right, with shorter beard), both crowned and draped, no crosses on their crowns or in the field between their heads / VICT [ORIA] - AVGЧ I, Modified cross on three steps; in ex., CONOB. Bernardi 3; Miles, Earliest Arab Gold Coinage 3; Album 3548. Good VF, traces of mounting on edge, tooling in fields on reverse. Extremely rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 11
Pre-reform issues, Arab-Byzantine. North Africa. AV Solidus (11.8mm, 4.31 g, 5h). 'Africa' mint (struck at Carthage). Dated Indiction XII (AH 94-5 / AD 713). Obverse: abbreviated version of 'Deus Eternus Deus Magnus Deus Onnia Noscens', beginning in margin and ending with OM NIΩ in field / Reverse: abbreviated version of 'Solidus feritus in Africa IND XII', beginnig in margin and ending with C INδ XII in field. Bernardi 19; Album 119. Good VF. Rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 12
Pre-reform issues, n/a. Arab-Byzantine. North Africa. n/a. AV Semissis (10.2mm, 2.00 g, 11h). 'Africa' mint (struck at Carthage). Dated AH 98 (AD 716/7). Obverse: abbreviated version of 'Non est Deus nisi unus cui non est alius similis', beginning in margin and ending with SIMIΛƧ in field / Reverse: abbreviated version of 'Solidus feritus in Africa anno XCVIII' around cippus with glopbe on steps. Bernardi 24; Miles, RIC 54; Album 120. Good VF, obverse weakly struck, marks in reverse field. Rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 13
Umayyad Caliphate, Gold coinage. AV Dinar (19.6mm, 4.25 g, 7h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 79 (AD 698/9). ICV 157; Walker 189. EF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 14
Umayyad Caliphate, Gold coinage. AV Dinar (19.6mm, 4.25 g, 6h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 92 (AD 710/11). Pellet below b of duriba in reverse margin. ICV 172; Walker 204. EF, minor graffiti on obverse.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 15
Umayyad Caliphate, Gold coinage. AV Dinar (19.6mm, 4.22 g, 8h). Without mint-name. Dated AH 131 (AD 748/9). ICV 225; Walker 251. Good VF, minor marks on reverse. Rare. Ex Morton & Eden auction 210 (15 October 2020), lot 1042.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 16
Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (25.2mm, 2.54 g, 3h). Abarqubadh mint. Dated AH 82 (AD 701/2). Klat 18; al-'Ajlan p.112, no. 2. Slightly wavy flan, scratches on obverse. Good Fine. Rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 17
Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (26mm, 2.00 g, 6h). Ard mint. Dated AH 82 (AD 701/2). Klat 30; al-'Ajlan p. 113, no. 3 (same obverse die as illustration). Losses to edge. Good VF / Fine, reverse stained. Extremely rare. 'Ard' is one of the rarest Umayyad mint-names. Initially read as 'Urdu', meaning 'camp,' 'Ard' has also been interpreted as a die-engraver's error for Ardashir Khurra. But the discovery of another dirham from 'Ard' dated AH 79 (Klat 29) counts strongly against this suggestion, since it is far less likely that the same error should have been made twice on dirhams struck three years apart. Thus 'Ard' is now generally regarded as being an authentic mint-name in its own right, even though its location has not yet been established.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 18
Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (28mm, 2.18 g, 10h). Arminiya mint. Dated AH 81 (AD 700/01). Obverse: In border: annulets o o o o o; in margin: mint-name written Armiya (i.e. lacking one 'tooth' before the ta marbuta) / Reverse: In border: annulets o o o o, with unread word at 2h. Klat 46.a; al-'Ajlan -. Edge chipped. Near VF, stained and with cleaning marks. Extremely rare. Umayyad dirhams are remarkable for the almost complete uniformity of their legends, which remain standard throughout the coinage. It is exceptional for an Umayyad dirham to feature so much as an additional letter in the reverse field, let alone an additional word in the outer border as on the present. Apart from this type, the only comparable example is the unique coin struck at Adharbayjan in AH 78 (Klat 23.a) which repeats the mint-name in the border on the obverse. Klat did not suggest a reading of the mysterious word in the reverse border, and it is not clear whether this is in fact Arabic or Pahlawi.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 19
Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (28mm, 2.69 g, 7h). Arminiya mint. Dated AH 94 (AD 712/13). Klat 48; al-'Ajlan p. 179, no. 9. Small patch of horn silver on obverse. VF, obverse graffiti. Very rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 20
Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (25.4mm, 2.83 g, 11h). Ifriqiya mint. Dated AH 128 (AD 745/6). Eight-pointed star below obverse field. Klat 110; al-'Ajlan p. 313, no. 4. VF, cleaned, marks in fields both sides. Very rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1 . 21
Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (25.6mm, 2.57 g, 10h). Bazija Khusra mint. Dated AH 79 (AD 698/9). Klat 155; al-'Ajlan p. 94, no. 36 (mint incorrectly read as 'Zija Khusra'). VF, lightly toned. Excessively rare. One of the rarest Umayyad mints, the correct reading of this mint-name has been the source of some confusion. In his 1990 Study of the Earliest Coinage of the Islam Empire, Shams-Eshragh published it as 'Zijakhusraw', without the initial 'b' and with an erroneous final 'w'. Al-'Ajlan, following Diler (Islamic Mints), gives the reading as 'Zijakhusra', following Shams-Eshragh's reading but with the second element correctly read as 'Khusra', with a final alif, rather than 'Khusraw' with a waw. Both appear to have mistaken the initial 'b' of the mint-name for the preposition bi-. In fact, as the present coin clearly shows, the mint legend is to be read as hadha al-dirham bi-Bazījā Khusrā fi sanat..., confirming that the Klat was correct to give the mint-name as Bazija Khusra. According to Le Strange, Bazija Khusra was the name of an administrative district in Iraq. It lay to the east of the Tigris, roughly thirty miles to the north of the future site of Baghdad. Its sole appearance in the coinage record is as a short-lived Umayyad silver mint, known to have been active only in AH 79 and 82. Many of the first post-Reform dirham mints were established where Arab-Sasanian drachms had previously been issued, but no Arab-Sasanian mint signature has been identified with Bazija Khusra and we are left to conclude that this mint must have been new foundation, opened in AH 79 when this coin was struck.