Stephen Album Rare Coins
Auction 14 21-22 September 2012
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ARAB-ARMENIAN: Muhammad, ca. 700, AR zuzun (3.21g), "ShY", year "37", A-H97, with Muhammad in Arabic in ObQ2 & awsrwy (Khusro) in Pahlavi before the obverse bust, Extremely Fine, RRR.
This type is believed to have been issued within the regions of Armenia or Azerbaijan. This mint name is of uncertain meaning, perhaps derived from a prototype from the Shiraz mint, and date, while convincing 37, is probably just a copy from the prototype. Also of considerable interest is the Greek letter Φ instead of a star withint the right crescent in the obverse margin. Other types have the Greek M or Σ in one of the crescents in either the obverse or reverse margin. These Greek characters are of undetermined meaning, but the use of Greek does support the assignment to the Caucasian lands, where Byzantine silver coins were circulating throughout the 7th centuries, first introduced by Heraclius circa 615 AD. This type is currently assigned to the very last years of the 7th and early 8th century. The weight of 3.20-3.25g corresponds quite accurately to half the weight of the Byzantine hexagram (about 6.5g)
Estimate: 3,500-4,000 USD
This type is believed to have been issued within the regions of Armenia or Azerbaijan. This mint name is of uncertain meaning, perhaps derived from a prototype from the Shiraz mint, and date, while convincing 37, is probably just a copy from the prototype. Also of considerable interest is the Greek letter Φ instead of a star withint the right crescent in the obverse margin. Other types have the Greek M or Σ in one of the crescents in either the obverse or reverse margin. These Greek characters are of undetermined meaning, but the use of Greek does support the assignment to the Caucasian lands, where Byzantine silver coins were circulating throughout the 7th centuries, first introduced by Heraclius circa 615 AD. This type is currently assigned to the very last years of the 7th and early 8th century. The weight of 3.20-3.25g corresponds quite accurately to half the weight of the Byzantine hexagram (about 6.5g)
Estimate: 3,500-4,000 USD