Watch List notes:

ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Danishmendids (Sivas). Shams al-Din Isma'il, AH 559-567 / AD 1164-1172. Dirham (Copper, 32 mm, 9.93 g, 6 h), Sivas. Name in in three lines within dotted circle. Rev. Male figure seated facing on an archshaped throne within dotted circle, wearing a pointed helmet and a patterned caftan with a pearled hem at about knee height; the legs are in pantaloons, the feet in boots; around, continuations of titles in outer margins. Album 1247. Whelan pl. 17, 12b var. (no helmet). Very rare and in exceptional condition for this difficult issue. Minor edge split and with some traces of overstriking, otherwise, extremely fine.


The Danishmendids were a local dynasty that established a rule in central Anatolia following the demise of Byzantine power in Asia Minor after the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The fact that the reverse image of our coin was adapted from Byzantine coins shows the extent to which the Graeco-Roman culture continued to influence the muslim Emirate. Whelan points out that the garments of the reverse figure are those of a contemporary soldier, an observation that is further reinforced by our example, which is the first to show the soldier (or Sultan) wearing a typical pointed Seljuk helmet.