Watch List notes:

ABBASID, TEMP. AL-MA'MUN (194-218h), Dirham, Ma'din Bajunays 218h. Reverse: citing al-'Abbas bin – amir al-mu'minin above and below field. Weight: 2.70g . Almost very fine and excessively rare, apparently unpublished. Al-'Abbas was the son of al-Ma'mun and had hopes of becoming caliph himself, even though al-Ma'mun had chosen his own brother, the future al-Mu'tasim, as his designated heir. At the end of al-Ma'mun's reign, al-'Abbas was governor of al-Jazira and Arminiya, and the legends on these rare dirhams show that he was unwilling to abandon his own claims to the caliphate. After some months of uncertainty, however, the matter was resolved peacefully and al-Mu'tasim duly became caliph as al-Ma'mun had intended.
(1000-1500 GBP)