Morton & Eden

Auction 107  –  22 October 2020

Morton & Eden, Auction 107

Important Coins of the Islamic World

Th, 22.10.2020, from 1:00 PM CEST
The auction is closed.

Description

ABBASID, AL-MU‘TAMID (256-279h). Dinar, al-Dinawar 277h. Obverse: In field: la ilaha illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharik lahu | al-Nasir li-din Allah | al-Muwaffaq billah. Reverse: In field: Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Mu‘tamid ‘ala-’llah | Ahmad ibn al-Muwaffaq billah; Around central legends, to right, above, and to left: al-quwwa – lillah – jami‘an. Weight: 4.06g. Reference: Bernardi 186Me. Fine and extremely rare. This is the only year in which Abbasid dinars were struck at the very rare mint of al-Dinawar. Located in Jibal province, Dinawar was an important strategic time in Sasanian times, with origins stretching back to the Seleucid period. Following the Persian defeat at the battle of Nihavand (21h/AD642), Dinawar was captured by Muslim forces from Basra, but later became an administrative centre of the region of Media whose revenues were allocated to troops from Kufa. For this reason the town became known as Mah al-Kufa, ‘Media of the Kufans,’ and first appears by this name as an extremely rare mint for Umayyad dirhams. Thereafter, Mah al-Kufa was the name generally used on the coinage, being employed on Abbasid dirhams between 233h and 262h and on Abbasid gold and silver struck there from 280h until 326h. This coin was struck during al-Muwaffaq’s campaigns in Jibal against the Dulafids, whose renunciation of allegiance to al-Muwaffaq in 275h is reflected both in literary and numismatic sources. Having received a letter from another regional military leader, Adhkutekin b. Asatekin, al-Muwaffaq left Baghdad for Jibal in 276h and entered Isbahan later that year. The Dulafids abandoned the city, and their loss of control in the region is reflected in the paucity of their coinage at this time. Indeed, the only coins issued by the Dulafids in 276h appear to have been Mah al-Kufa dinars, and it seems plausible to suggest that al-Muwaffaq issued these coins of al-Dinawar as a direct response, choosing the alternative toponym to distinguish his Abbasid coins dated 277h from the Dulafid issues of the previous year.

Estimate: GBP 1500 - 2000

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Price realized 1'500 GBP
Starting price 1'200 GBP
Estimate 1'500 GBP
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