Pre-reform issues, Tabaristan ('Abbasid governors). Nusayr (or Sa'd). AH 168 / AD 784/5. AR Hemidrachm (23.5mm, 2.14 g, 6h). al-Rayy mint. Dated AH 168 = PYE 133 (AD 784/5). Crowned Tabaristan-type bust right;GDH monogram and 'pzwt in Pahlavi to left; nsyl in Pahlavi to right; 'pd and nwk' in outer margin / Fire altar flanked by attendants; star and crescent flanking flames; b-al-rayy in Arabic (mint) to left; thaman wa sittin wa mi'a (date) in Arabic to right; alternating triple pellets and star-in-crescents in outer margin. Malek 212.1-3; SICA 1, 352; Album L73; CNG 109, lot 789. Light iridescent toning, slight porosity, areas of weak strike . EF. Extremely rare and excellent for issue.
Album notes that Nusayr has been tentatively identified as Nusayr al-Wasif, chief of intelligence under the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi.