Numismatica Genevensis SA
Auction 8 24-25 November 2014
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LE MONDE ARABE
ARAB-SASSANIAN: THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF ISLAM ON COINAGE, CIRCA AH 31-83 (652-702).
Umayya b. 'Abd Allah, AH 73-78 (693-698).
Drachme AH 74 (693), Khorasan. Buste sassanide couronné d'un casque ailé à droite. Inscription marginale "bism Allah la ilah illa Allah Muhammad rasul Allah " / Autel zororastrien entre deux servants. 4,09g. A - (cf. 29) ; Shams Eshragh - ; Walker - (cf. 211) ; SIC Ashmolean - (cf. p. 33).
Superbe exemplaire.
An apparently unique and unpublished coin. The name "Khorasan" is not found in Shams Eshragh, but is mentioned by Walker and Album (SIC Ashmolean I p. 33) with a shorter marginal inscription. This reference to a province, rather than a city, is unusual. Furthermore, the coin's damascene-inspired type, which includes a long passage from the Quran, suggests an attempt to centralise the silver coinage. This was an important step towards the creation of a pure Islamic coinage, which would emerge several years later.
ARAB-SASSANIAN: THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF ISLAM ON COINAGE, CIRCA AH 31-83 (652-702).
Umayya b. 'Abd Allah, AH 73-78 (693-698).
Drachme AH 74 (693), Khorasan. Buste sassanide couronné d'un casque ailé à droite. Inscription marginale "bism Allah la ilah illa Allah Muhammad rasul Allah " / Autel zororastrien entre deux servants. 4,09g. A - (cf. 29) ; Shams Eshragh - ; Walker - (cf. 211) ; SIC Ashmolean - (cf. p. 33).
Superbe exemplaire.
An apparently unique and unpublished coin. The name "Khorasan" is not found in Shams Eshragh, but is mentioned by Walker and Album (SIC Ashmolean I p. 33) with a shorter marginal inscription. This reference to a province, rather than a city, is unusual. Furthermore, the coin's damascene-inspired type, which includes a long passage from the Quran, suggests an attempt to centralise the silver coinage. This was an important step towards the creation of a pure Islamic coinage, which would emerge several years later.