The Death of Saladin

195, Lot: 367. Estimate $150. Sold for $141. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Mardin). Husam al-Din Yuluq Arslan. AH 580-597 / AD 1184-1200. Æ Dirham (31mm, 12.81 g, 12h). Dated AH 589 (AD 1193). Three standing figures around central seated figure / Three line legend within in circle, citing the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir and Yuluq Arslan; date in marginal legend. S&S 35.1; Edhem 57; Album 1829.3. VF, brown patina.

Traditionally, this obverse type has been thought to represent the mourning of Saladin, who died in AH 589, the year this coin was issued. Spengler and Sayles have argued that it depicts Virgo surrounded by planets, referring to an astrological event of AH 582 considered by many to signal an imminent calamity - one fulfilled by the death of the Ayyubid leader seven years later. Thus, they argue, the design still refer to Saladin's passing, but in a more complex way than conventionally thought.