Watch List notes:

FATIMID: al-'Aziz, 975-996, AR ½ dirham (1.51g), Bâlis, AH375, A-705, Nicol, full mint name, final digit of date weak but seems to be "5", so AH375 is very likely; first reported Fatimid coin of any metal for the mint of Bâlis; obverse fine, reverse only fair with most of the reverse center completely weak, VF, RRRR. Bâlis was the old Roman Barbalissos, near the modern Syrian city of Maskanah along the Euphrates River in the southeast corner of the Aleppo province. It has been reported only for Tulunid gold dinars and silver dirhams dated between AH281 and 284. Bâlis was abandoned in the 14th century and only a few ruins survive. Aleppo itself remained outside Fatimid control until about AH415, though Hamdanid rulers often recognized the Fatimids as their protective overlords from about AH388. However, the Fatimids had taken control of al-Rafiqa a few years before the date on this coin, about 40 miles downstream on the Euphrates from Maskanah. Bâlis may have been along the route from Damascus to al-Raqqa, or was a military camp protecting al-Rafiqa from threatened Aleppan advance.

Estimate: 1,400-1,600 USD