Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Islamic Auction 3 27 Apr 2023
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Umayyad Caliphate, Gold coinage. AV Dinar (21.9mm, 4.17 g, 7h). Ifriqiya mint. Dated AH 122 (AD 739/40). Bernardi 43Ca; Walker B.16 = Nützel 508; ICV 227. Damage at edge by decade of date and deep scratch to the left of the first two lines of reverse field; a few other lighter pin-marks in fields. VF. Extremely rare.
The Umayyads began striking gold dinars with the mint-name Ifriqiya in AH 100, although it seems only small quantities were ever produced. In a conscious move to distinguish these coins from standard Damascus issues, Ifriqiya dinars struck between AH 100-110 carry different legends in the fields, with a shortened kalima on the obverse and bismillah / al-rahman / al-rahim on the reverse. This so-called Western type was also struck in Spain from AH 102 until at least AH 108, but by AH 114 both Ifriqiya and al-Andalus had begun to produce gold dinars which were identical to Damascus issues except for the addition of the mint-name in the reverse marginal legend. These are rarer than the earlier Western types, and the coin offered here, dated AH 122, appears to be an example of the latest recorded date for Umayyad gold of Ifriqiya.
While Bernardi apparently cites four examples of this mint and date, his notes in fact only record three different specimens. Walker (p. 100) states that the Berlin piece (Nützel 508) was the same coin as that published by Lane-Poole (Catalogue of the Collection of Oriental Coins belonging to Col. C. Seton Guthrie), Hertford, 1874.
The Umayyads began striking gold dinars with the mint-name Ifriqiya in AH 100, although it seems only small quantities were ever produced. In a conscious move to distinguish these coins from standard Damascus issues, Ifriqiya dinars struck between AH 100-110 carry different legends in the fields, with a shortened kalima on the obverse and bismillah / al-rahman / al-rahim on the reverse. This so-called Western type was also struck in Spain from AH 102 until at least AH 108, but by AH 114 both Ifriqiya and al-Andalus had begun to produce gold dinars which were identical to Damascus issues except for the addition of the mint-name in the reverse marginal legend. These are rarer than the earlier Western types, and the coin offered here, dated AH 122, appears to be an example of the latest recorded date for Umayyad gold of Ifriqiya.
While Bernardi apparently cites four examples of this mint and date, his notes in fact only record three different specimens. Walker (p. 100) states that the Berlin piece (Nützel 508) was the same coin as that published by Lane-Poole (Catalogue of the Collection of Oriental Coins belonging to Col. C. Seton Guthrie), Hertford, 1874.