ABBASID, AL-MU'TAMID (256-279h), Dinar, al-Ahwaz 272h. OBVERSE: In field: la ilaha illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharik lahu | al-nasir li-din Allah | al-Muwaffaq billah. REVERSE: In field: lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Mu'tamid 'ala-'llah | letter ba. WEIGHT: 4.04g. REFERENCE: Bernardi 180Nd (date not listed). CONDITION: Very fine and extremely rare. NOTE: Bernardi does record two dinars of al-Ahwaz 272h but assigns them both to his type 177, which omits the additional honorific al-nasir li-din Allah. Of these, one was sold by Sotheby's in April 1992 as lot 330; it was not illustrated and given only the brief description 'with al-Mu'tamid and al-Muwaffaq'. The other specimen was part of the collection of Gerson da Cunha, published in Bombay in 1888. Without illustrations or proper descriptions, it is not possible to say for certain whether either or both of these coins should be classified as type 177 (as Bernardi lists them) or type 180.
Estimate: £2,000-3000