'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mu'tamid. AH 256-279 / AD 870-892. AV Dinar (21.5mm, 4.02 g, 10h). Jannaba mint. Dated AH 275 (AD 888/9). Good VF.

CNG Islamic Auction 3
Lot: 103. Estimated: $ 20 000

‘Abbasid Caliphate, Gold

Sold For $ 32 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mu'tamid. AH 256-279 / AD 870-892. AV Dinar (21.5mm, 4.02 g, 10h). Jannaba mint. Dated AH 275 (AD 888/9). Obverse field: la ilaha illa / Allah wahdahu / la sharik lahu / al-Nasir li-din Allah / al-Muwaffaq billah / Reverse field: lillah / Muhammad / rasul / Allah / al-Mu‘tamid ‘ala’llah / Ahmad b. al-Muwaffaq billah. Cf. Bernardi type 184 (unrecorded for this mint). Good VF. Excessively rare, an unpublished mint for ‘Abbasid gold.

This is the first year in which coins are known to have been struck at Jannaba. and is the only year for which ‘Abbasid dinars from this mint are known.

Jannaba is a port-city on the Persian Gulf. It was evidently under ‘Abbasid control in the year AH 267, when the caliph’s brother, al-Muwaffaq, ordered the shipwrights of Jannaba to build flat-bottomed boats for use in his campaigns against the Zanj (al-Tabari 1997). From AH 275-286, however, numismatic evidence indicates that Jannaba was under the control of the Saffarid ruler, ‘Amr b. al-Layth.Both ‘Abbasid and Saffarid types were struck there in this year, in silver as well as gold. It seems likely that the ‘Abbasid issues were struck first and that Jannaba came under Saffarid control later in the year, because the legends on the Saffarid dirhams and dinars copy the ‘Abbasid types apart from the addition of ‘Amr b. al-Layth’s name below that of al-Muwaffaq in the obverse field. Al-Tabari briefly mentions that the caliph sent a military force against ‘Amr b. al-Layth in AH 274, and it seems likely that a mint was set up at Jannaba during this campaign.

While the ‘Abbasids began striking silver dirhams at Jannaba during the reign of al-Muqtadir, and examples are known for most years from AH 299 onwards, no gold dinars of Jannaba from this reign are known.

The cataloguer is aware of one other ‘Abbasid dinar of Jannaba dated AH 275, struck from the same dies as the present coin, which is currently in a private collection.

The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 3 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 27 April 2023.

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