Watch List notes:

ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Drachm (Silver, 30 mm, 3.80 g, 9 h), Arab-Sasanian type, citing governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (694-713), BYŠ (Bishapur), AH 77 = AD 696/7. Draped bust resembling Khosrau II to right, wearing elaborate mural crown; behind head, AFZUT GDH ('may his kingship increase' in Pahlawi); before head, 'Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf' (in Kufic); in outer margin, 'bism Allah la ilah illa Allah wahdahu Muhammad Rasul Allah' ('In the name of Allah, There is no God but Allah alone; Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah' in Kufic). Rev. Fire altar with ribbons flanked by two attendants; in upper field to left, six-pointed star; in upper field to right, crescent; to left, date; to right, BYŠ (name of the mint in Pahlawi). Album A35. Malek, Arab-Sasanian, 337. SICA I, 216. Walker, Arab-Sasanian, p. 119, 232. Very rare. Some deposits, otherwise, very fine.


Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf was perhaps the most able and loyal general of the Umayyad caliphate. He served under the caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, and his eldest son, al-Walid.