Watch List notes:

ZANGIDS OF SYRIA: 'Imad al-Din Zangi, 1127-1146, AE dirham aswad ("black dirham") (1.77g), MM, AH536, A-1848, citing the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtafi (AH530-555), ruler cited on obverse as atabak malik al-umara tughril (for Tughril-takin, as on his gold dinars published by Gilles Henniquin) in the obverse center, with unread legend around, but the date in the outer margin is boldly clear, choice VF, RRR. The only other known example was sold in our Auction 26, Lot 304, then attributed to Tughtekin as "governor" before his formal accession as atabeg in AH497. The date was completely off flan, thus unknown, and the caliph's name was read as "al-Muqtadi" (AH 467-487) rather than al-Muqtafi (530-555), which is boldly clear on this piece. The king's name does not appear on the coin, only his title, which continued to be used as a title for some of the later Zangid rulers at al-Mawsil.

Estimate: 200-300 USD