Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3071 6-7 Jan 2019
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Islamic Dynasties
Arab-Byzantine. temp. Abd al-Malik (AH 65-86 / AD 685-705) gold Imitative Solidus ND (c. AH 80-85 / AD 700-704) MS 4/5 - 5/5 NGC, Uncertain North African mint (likely Carthage). 14mm. 4.45gm. A-115var (RR; with two steps), ICV-143var (same), Bernardi-8var (RRR; no pellet right of "cippus"). Variety with "cippus" or "mutilated cross" on two steps. NON ЄST - NON IPЄ TP (truncated and garbled version of Non est Deus nisi ipse Solus cul Socius non est); dual residual diademed, draped, facing busts of Heraclius (on left, larger and bearded) and Heraclius Constantine (on right, smaller and unbearded), the crosses on their diadems replaced with trefoil ornaments / ∂ Є ∂ N VD (ligate with bar of contraction above) LM (mark of contraction above M) Є - NANVSV Є (retrograde) (truncated and garbled version of Deus Dominus Noster Unus Benignus et Misericors eternus omnia noscens ingenitus magnus alius non est); T-bar, cippus, or mutilated cross with extra pellet on bar on two steps. Simply staggering quality that must suggest that it was lost soon after being struck, the fields wholly original and scintillating with a gold foil-like appearance to the luster, engraved in masterful style, and struck only just off-center without edge cracks.
An incredible piece of history, all the more so for the way it fits into the intricate and, for the most part, poorly understood puzzle of Arab-Byzantine issues, the present offering came into being in a climate of rampant experimentation and rapid expansion as the burgeoning Islamic Caliphate began to expand its sense of identity into the monetary sphere. Almost certainly struck at the old Byzantine mint of Carthage after the city's final seizure and destruction by the Arabs in 698, the design heavily harkens to the prolific, and largely singular, compact-flan solidi struck by the city's former lords throughout the long reign of the emperor Heraclius (AD 610-641). In their typical pragmatic style, however, the Arabs appear to have retained the old Byzantine mintmasters, fusing Latin designs and legends with a distinctively Islamic message, transliterating the newly minted shahada ("declaration of faith") as There is no god but He who has no associate / God, our Lord, One, the Compassionate, the Eternal, the All-Knowing, He is begotten by none. All the more engaging is the apparent ignorance of Abd al-Malik's epigraphic monetary reform of 696/7, rather preserving a style that subtly undercuts the Byzantine Christian message by removing and "mutilating" the crosses, while repeating the elements that allowed the coins unquestioned circulation. The name of Muhammad moreover is completely absent, keeping with the Umayyads' self-styling as God's deputies after the Prophet, but not in succession to him.
While we sold another example of this type in Choice Mint State with the same surface and strike designations for an impressive $26,400 in our previous New York Auction #3061 (Lot 32117), it is in the cataloger's opinion that the piece at hand is even more appealing. Not only do the two imperial figures express a finer engraving style where the features keep from blending together, with radiant flow lines at the legends, but it presents a different variety of the type: the style of the device on steps with a seemingly separate T at its apex (with a pellet at each end) apparently undocumented, and in the much longer and rarer reverse legend choice. An all-in-all unmissable opportunity to the serious connoisseur, and a piece sure to garner attention for future catalogs.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 18000-26000 USD
Arab-Byzantine. temp. Abd al-Malik (AH 65-86 / AD 685-705) gold Imitative Solidus ND (c. AH 80-85 / AD 700-704) MS 4/5 - 5/5 NGC, Uncertain North African mint (likely Carthage). 14mm. 4.45gm. A-115var (RR; with two steps), ICV-143var (same), Bernardi-8var (RRR; no pellet right of "cippus"). Variety with "cippus" or "mutilated cross" on two steps. NON ЄST - NON IPЄ TP (truncated and garbled version of Non est Deus nisi ipse Solus cul Socius non est); dual residual diademed, draped, facing busts of Heraclius (on left, larger and bearded) and Heraclius Constantine (on right, smaller and unbearded), the crosses on their diadems replaced with trefoil ornaments / ∂ Є ∂ N VD (ligate with bar of contraction above) LM (mark of contraction above M) Є - NANVSV Є (retrograde) (truncated and garbled version of Deus Dominus Noster Unus Benignus et Misericors eternus omnia noscens ingenitus magnus alius non est); T-bar, cippus, or mutilated cross with extra pellet on bar on two steps. Simply staggering quality that must suggest that it was lost soon after being struck, the fields wholly original and scintillating with a gold foil-like appearance to the luster, engraved in masterful style, and struck only just off-center without edge cracks.
An incredible piece of history, all the more so for the way it fits into the intricate and, for the most part, poorly understood puzzle of Arab-Byzantine issues, the present offering came into being in a climate of rampant experimentation and rapid expansion as the burgeoning Islamic Caliphate began to expand its sense of identity into the monetary sphere. Almost certainly struck at the old Byzantine mint of Carthage after the city's final seizure and destruction by the Arabs in 698, the design heavily harkens to the prolific, and largely singular, compact-flan solidi struck by the city's former lords throughout the long reign of the emperor Heraclius (AD 610-641). In their typical pragmatic style, however, the Arabs appear to have retained the old Byzantine mintmasters, fusing Latin designs and legends with a distinctively Islamic message, transliterating the newly minted shahada ("declaration of faith") as There is no god but He who has no associate / God, our Lord, One, the Compassionate, the Eternal, the All-Knowing, He is begotten by none. All the more engaging is the apparent ignorance of Abd al-Malik's epigraphic monetary reform of 696/7, rather preserving a style that subtly undercuts the Byzantine Christian message by removing and "mutilating" the crosses, while repeating the elements that allowed the coins unquestioned circulation. The name of Muhammad moreover is completely absent, keeping with the Umayyads' self-styling as God's deputies after the Prophet, but not in succession to him.
While we sold another example of this type in Choice Mint State with the same surface and strike designations for an impressive $26,400 in our previous New York Auction #3061 (Lot 32117), it is in the cataloger's opinion that the piece at hand is even more appealing. Not only do the two imperial figures express a finer engraving style where the features keep from blending together, with radiant flow lines at the legends, but it presents a different variety of the type: the style of the device on steps with a seemingly separate T at its apex (with a pellet at each end) apparently undocumented, and in the much longer and rarer reverse legend choice. An all-in-all unmissable opportunity to the serious connoisseur, and a piece sure to garner attention for future catalogs.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 18000-26000 USD