Watch List notes:

ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Pashiz (Bronze, 19 mm, 1.33 g, 7 h), Arab-Sasanian, Daray type, Bishapur, circa AH 71-91 = AD 690-710. Draped bust wearing a flame nimbus around the head; to left, AFZUT GDH ('may his kingship increase' in Pahlawi); to right, DARAY in Pahlawi. Rev. ABAD (or AZAD) BYŠPHR ('May Bishapur be prosperous [or free]' in Pahlawi) Gopatshah standing right, wearing the crown of Khosrau II; before, six-pointed star and the Pahlawi letter p. Album 44. Gyselen 7. SICA I, 498. Light deposits, otherwise, nearly very fine.


Gopatshah is a fabulous beast in Persian mythology: it has the body of a bull and the head of a human.