Watch List notes:

ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mansur, AH 136-158 / AD 754-775. Fals (Bronze, 18 mm, 2.46 g, 7 h), citing the governor Rawh as 'amil 'abbad mawla al-mahdi' ('Hope of those who worship Allah, friend of al-Mahdi' in Kufic). Jabal al-Fidda ('silver mountain' in Kufic), AH 155 = AD 781/2. Album A326. SICA II, 1415. Very rare. The obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, very fine.


The 'silver mountain' mint was located somewhere in Khorasan, perhaps near to the city of Herat. On this coin, Rawh is called the 'mawla' of the future caliph al-Mahdi, a word with different meanings such as 'leader', 'follower' and 'friend'.