★ The fifth known 'Standing Caliph' from Sinjar ★

ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Fals (Bronze, 20 mm, 2.52 g, 10 h), 'Standing Caliph' type, Sinjar, AH 74-80 / AD 693/4-699/700. Caliph standing facing, bearded, placing his right hand on the pommel of his sword and girdle band hanging from his right elbow; around, 'li' abd allah' abd al-malik amir al-mu'minin' ('the servant of God, Abd al-Malik, Commander of the Faithful' in Kufic). Rev. Transformed cross standing on three steps; in left field, mint bi-sinjar ('in Sinjar' in Kufic); in right field, eight-pointed star; around, part of the first Kalima reading 'la ilaha illa allah wahdahu muhammad rasul allah' ('There is no God but God alone; Muhammad is the Prophet of God'). DOCAB -. Goodwin, T.: Sinjar - A new Standing Caliph Mint, in: JONS 211 (spring 2012), pp. 18-19, Fig. 1-3 and note 2 (four examples, all from the same dies, with Fig. 2 = Album pl. 44, 686 and Fig. 3 = Goodwin, Standing Caliph Coinage, Sinjar, p. 18, 208). Of the highest rarity and of great historical importance. Nearly very fine.

From a collection of Arab-Byzantine and Crusader coins, formed in the 1990s.

This exciting 'Standing Caliph' issue was struck in a very small mint called 'Sinjar', a settlement somewhere in Jund Qinnasrin or Jund Hims (and not to be confused with the well known Sinjar in modern Iraq). Goodwin knew of only four examples, all struck from the same pair of dies, making ours the fifth example known.