★ Unpublished with Shield Instead of Tabula Ansata ★

ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Kayfa & Amid). Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan, AH 543-570 / AD 1148-1174. Dirham (Bronze, 31 mm, 14.77 g, 10 h), imitating a solidus of Constantine II from Siscia (as Depeyrot 3/2). VI-CTORIA CONSTANTINI AVG / SIS Victory advancing right, holding round shield inscribed VOT/XXX in two lines. Rev. Name and titles of Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan in three lines across fields and continued in the margins. Album 1820.3. Cf. S&S Type 3 ( tabula ansata instead of shield ). Cf. Whelan Type V, 126-8 ( tabula ansata instead of shield ). Dork brown surfaces. Minor roughness, otherwise, good very fine.

Whelan (p. 156) notes the "most puzzling change" of this coin from its prototype is "the replacement of the oval shield... with the [square] tabula ansata." According to Dr. William Metcalf, formerly of the American Numismatic Society, the tabula ansata never appears on Roman coins, but is indeed classical in origin, being a type of antique writing tablet. Here, however, our coin displays quite clearly a round shield and not a square tablet. This seems to be previously unknown for this type.