Watch List notes:

ARAB-SASANIAN, KHUSRAW II TYPE WITH JAYYID, Drachm, ŠY (unlocated), year '7'. OBVERSE: Bust of Khusraw II with his name before; in second quadrant of margin: jayyid. WEIGHT: 3.76g. REFERENCE: Album F6 RRR. CONDITION: Slightly ragged flan, has been cleaned and still with minor peripheral staining, good very fine and extremely rare. NOTE: Drachms with the obverse legend jayyid instead of the standard bismillah have been considered some of the very earliest Arab-Sasanian coins. Album distinguishes two groups: one with the name and portrait of Yazdigerd III, and the other with the name and image of Khusraw II as on the present coin. It seems that both types were struck simultaneously but, while the Yazdigerd III derivatives are known from at least six different mints, those based on Khusraw II types are only reported from the mint of ŠY (as here). Confusingly, it seems that these coins could be dated according to two different systems: they sometimes bear what have been interpreted as Hijri dates (year 31 or 33 – the script is ambiguous), but are also found with the well-known frozen 'year 20' of the Yazdigerd era, familiar from the relatively plentiful Yazdigerd III drachms of this year with bismillah in the margin.The date on the present coin appears to be the single number '7', and is presumably an authentic regnal year of Khusraw II copied faithfully from a prototype.

Estimate: £2,500-3000