ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Lu'lu'ids. Badr al-Din Lu'lu, AH 631-657 / AD 1234-1259. Fals (Bronze, 26 mm, 9.29 g), Inscriptional type, al-Jazira, AH 649 = 1251/2. Citing the deceased ʿAbbasid caliph al-Mustansir billah (AH 623-640 / AD 1226-1242) on the obverse and the Ayyubid overlord al-Nasir Yusuf II (AH 634-658 / AD 1236-1259) on the reverse, ‘al-imām / lā ilāha illā Allāh / al-Mustanṣir billāh / amīr al-muʾminīn’ (‘There is no deity but Allah. Imam al-Mustansir billah, the Commander of the Believers’ in Arabic); mint and date formula in the margin. Rev. ‘Luʾluʾ / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / Badr al-Dunyā / wa al-Din Atābak’ (‘Luʾluʾ. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Badr al-Dunya wa al-Din Atabeg’ in Arabic); to right and left, ‘al-malik al-Nāṣir – Yūsuf’ (‘King al-Nasir Yusuf’ in Arabic); in the margin, ‘bism Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm naṣr min Allāh wa fatḥ qarīb wa bashshir al-muʾminīn’ (‘In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Help [is] from Allah and an immediate victory; and give good tidings to the believers’ in Arabic; Qurʾān 61: 13). Album 1875. Very rare. Struck slightly off center and with some deposits, otherwise, very fine.

From the collection of Dr. D. Löer, Leu Web Auction 27, 9-11 September 2023, 2578, ex Heritage Europe 64, 12 November 2019, 6116.