Morton & Eden Ltd
Auction 69 10 April 2014
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ARAB-LATIN COINAGE, TEMP. SULAYMAN (96-99h)
Gold Solidus/Dinar, al-Andalus 98h
OBVERSE: In margin: mint and date
In field: Muhammad ra | sul Allah
REVERSE: Around central eight-pointed star: feritos soli in span an
WEIGHT: 4.14g
REFERENCES: Bernardi 35Aa, same dies as C.0003; Balaguer 42 = Walker p.79, C.18, same reverse die
CONDITION: Extremely fine and very rare
NOTE: This one-year bilingual type was probably introduced by al-Hurr b. 'Abd al-Rahman, who was appointed to govern Spain after Ayyub b. Habib was removed from office (see note to previous lot). It represents the first instance of the Arabic script being used in Muslim Spain. As Bernardi points out, the Arabic legends are elegantly and correctly written while the Latin inscriptions are abbreviated and more coarsely executed. It is noteworthy that the Hijri year '98' is clearly and completely rendered in Arabic, while the Roman numerals, which would denote the date in Latin characters, are in fact missing entirely from this particular die. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the Arabic version was considered more important than the Latin by the issuing authorities.
Estimate: £8000 - 12000
Gold Solidus/Dinar, al-Andalus 98h
OBVERSE: In margin: mint and date
In field: Muhammad ra | sul Allah
REVERSE: Around central eight-pointed star: feritos soli in span an
WEIGHT: 4.14g
REFERENCES: Bernardi 35Aa, same dies as C.0003; Balaguer 42 = Walker p.79, C.18, same reverse die
CONDITION: Extremely fine and very rare
NOTE: This one-year bilingual type was probably introduced by al-Hurr b. 'Abd al-Rahman, who was appointed to govern Spain after Ayyub b. Habib was removed from office (see note to previous lot). It represents the first instance of the Arabic script being used in Muslim Spain. As Bernardi points out, the Arabic legends are elegantly and correctly written while the Latin inscriptions are abbreviated and more coarsely executed. It is noteworthy that the Hijri year '98' is clearly and completely rendered in Arabic, while the Roman numerals, which would denote the date in Latin characters, are in fact missing entirely from this particular die. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the Arabic version was considered more important than the Latin by the issuing authorities.
Estimate: £8000 - 12000