Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Islamic Auction 3 27 Apr 2023
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Umayyad Caliphate, Silver coinage. AR Dirham (25.5mm, 2.60 g, 3h). Ard mint. Dated AH 82 (AD 701/2). Klat 30 (same dies as illustration); al-'Ajlan p. 113, 3 (same dies as illustration); SCC -. Edge clip. VF. Extremely rare, only two specimens recorded by Klat.
Ex Triton XXIII (14 January 2020), lot 946.
'Ard' is one of the rarest Umayyad mint-names, and various suggestions have been proposed for how it should be interpreted. Initially read as Urdu, meaning 'camp,' Michael Bates subsequently proposed that Ard was 'nothing more than a die-engraver's error for Ardashir Khurra' (Bates, Mystery Mints of the Umayyads, ONS Occasional Paper 22, 1987). Since Bates wrote, however, another dirham from 'Ard' has come to light dated AH 79 (Klat 29), and since it is far less plausible to suggest that the same error should have been made on two occasions three years apart, 'Ard' is now generally regarded as being an authentic mint-name in its own right, even though its location is not yet known.
Ex Triton XXIII (14 January 2020), lot 946.
'Ard' is one of the rarest Umayyad mint-names, and various suggestions have been proposed for how it should be interpreted. Initially read as Urdu, meaning 'camp,' Michael Bates subsequently proposed that Ard was 'nothing more than a die-engraver's error for Ardashir Khurra' (Bates, Mystery Mints of the Umayyads, ONS Occasional Paper 22, 1987). Since Bates wrote, however, another dirham from 'Ard' has come to light dated AH 79 (Klat 29), and since it is far less plausible to suggest that the same error should have been made on two occasions three years apart, 'Ard' is now generally regarded as being an authentic mint-name in its own right, even though its location is not yet known.