Leu Numismatik AG
Web Auction 7 23-24 Feb 2019
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ISLAMIC, Time of the Rashidun. Pseudo-Byzantine types. Fals (Bronze, 25 mm, 6.28 g, 8 h), Type D, uncertain mint, AH 18-49 / AD 640-670. Stylized imperial figure standing facing, wearing short flared tunic, holding long cross with his right hand and placing his left on hip; to right, globus cruciger set on an uncertain object; in lower right field, pellet; in upper left field, crescent (?). Rev. Large m between A / N / N / O and X / III / O; above, cross; in exergue, IOK. Cf. Goodwin&Gyselen, p. 48 and Goodwin, Khalili Collection, p. 34 (for Type D). Very rare. Earthen deposits, otherwise, very fine.
From a collection of Arab-Byzantine and Crusader coins, formed in the 1990s.
T. Goodwin noted, in correspondence with this cataloguer, that this rare issue is larger and heavier than most Pseudo-Byzantine coins and that all examples known to him are struck on similarly oval flans. By copying - albeit clumsily - an imperial figure with a typical short flared tunic and the distinctive hand-on-hip feature on the obverse, the type apparently imitates a Class 5 follis of Heraclius. It therefore belongs to Goodwin's Type D, but the crude style and size mark it as a separate variety, struck in a minor and perhaps even illegal mint. We kindly thank T. Goodwin for his valuable contributions to the discussion of this issue.
From a collection of Arab-Byzantine and Crusader coins, formed in the 1990s.
T. Goodwin noted, in correspondence with this cataloguer, that this rare issue is larger and heavier than most Pseudo-Byzantine coins and that all examples known to him are struck on similarly oval flans. By copying - albeit clumsily - an imperial figure with a typical short flared tunic and the distinctive hand-on-hip feature on the obverse, the type apparently imitates a Class 5 follis of Heraclius. It therefore belongs to Goodwin's Type D, but the crude style and size mark it as a separate variety, struck in a minor and perhaps even illegal mint. We kindly thank T. Goodwin for his valuable contributions to the discussion of this issue.