Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Anonymous. AR Drachm (31mm, 4.14 g, 9h). With legend MHMT PGTAMYY DAT, ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’, before bust in place of governor’s name. KLMAN-GLM (Garmshir) mint. Dated AH 70 (AD 689/90). Near EF.

Islamic Auction 4 – Session 1
Lot: 4. Estimated: $ 5 000

Pre-reform issues, Silver

Sold For $ 7 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Anonymous. AR Drachm (31mm, 4.14 g, 9h). With legend MHMT PGTAMYY DAT, ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’, before bust in place of governor’s name. KLMAN-GLM (Garmshir) mint. Dated AH 70 (AD 689/90). Obverse margin: — / bismillah wali / al-amr / —. Malek, Arab-Sasanian p. 151, note 305; SCC 123; Album 34C. Cleaned. Near EF. Extremely rare.

Ex CNG Islamic Auction 1 (25 May 2022), lot 23.

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 after he had become governor in the region, subject to this small modification of the obverse. These extremely rare drachms, from which the names of all secular rulers have been removed, represent a further development in the transition towards a distinctly Islamic coinage.

The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 4 – Session 1 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 19 October 2023.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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