★ A rare mithqal of Mohammad Khudabanda ★

ISLAMIC, Persia (Post-Mongol). Safavids. Mohammad Khudabanda, AH 985-995 / AD 1578-1587. Mithqal (Gold, 18 mm, 4.68 g), type A, mint and date effaced. Shiʿa kalima in the center, ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh / Muḥammad / rasūl Allāh / ʿAlī / walī Allāh’ (‘There is no deity but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Ali is the friend of Allah’ in Arabic); the names of the twelve shiʿa imams in four ornamental cartouches around. Rev. Within a circle, ‘Ghulām Imām Muḥammad Mahdī ʿalayh wa ālihī al-salām Abu’l-Muẓaffar sulṭān Muḥammad pādshāh ḍarb …’ (‘The servant of Imam Muhammad Mahdi, peace be upon him and his household, Abu’l-Muzaffar Sultan Muhammad, the King. Struck [in] …’ in Arabic); illegible marginal legend. Album 2616.1. Rare. Struck slightly off center and with some scrapes, otherwise, about very fine.