Watch List notes:

UMAYYAD/ABBASID, TEMP ABU'L-KHATTAB AL-SAMAH (141-143h) Dirham, Ifriqiya 142h Obverse: annulets O O O Weight: 2.53g Reference: Lowick 269 var. (different annulets) Stained, fair to fine and extremely rare. The Governor of Africa at the time of the overthrow of the Umayyads was 'Abd al-Rahman b. Habib, who had been appointed in 127h. In 132h the new Abbasid caliph, al-Saffah, reconfirmed 'Abd al-Rahman's governorship - possibly because leading an army into Africa to remove him forcibly would have been impractical – and the latter remained in office until his death in 138h. Although it seems that very few Umayyad dirhams from Ifriqiya had been reaching the caliphal treasury from about 120h onwards, 'Abd al-Rahman nevertheless continued to issue small numbers of Umayyad-type dirhams during the mid-130s, several years after the Umayyad caliphate in Damascus had been extinguished. The four short-lived governors who succeeded 'Abd al-Rahman, including Abu'l-Khattab al-Samah, continued this practice, of which the present coin is an extremely rare survivor. Abbasid-style dirhams were eventually introduced in Ifriqiya during the year 144h (Lowick 271ff).

(2500-3000 GBP)