ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid, AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. Dirham (Silver, 26 mm, 2.48 g, 9 h), Maʿdin al-Shash, AH 190 = 805/6. ‘lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū’ (‘There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi Maʿdin al-Shāsh sana tisʿīn wa miʾa’ (‘In the name of Allah. This dirham was struck in Maʿdin al-Shash in the year 190’ in Arabic). Rev. Citing ʿAli al-Nasr, and his own son al-Maʾmun ʿAbd Allah as the second heir apparent, ‘ʿAlī / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / mimmā amara bihī al-amīr al-Maʾmūn / ʿAbd Allāh ibn amīr al-muʾminīn walī / walī ʿahd al-muslimīn / al-Naṣr’ (‘ʿAli. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. From that ordered by Amir al-Maʾmun ʿAbd Allah son of the Commander of the Believers, [and] successor of the successor to the covenant of the Muslims. al-Nasr’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn’ (‘Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it’ in Arabic). Album 219.11. Areas of weakness, otherwise, very fine.

From an important collection of Byzantine and Islamic coins and seals, formed over the past 25 years.