555
*Fatimid, al-Mustansir / al-Basasiri, dinar, Madinat al-Salam 450h, obv., in field: Ma‘add | ‘Abd
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Description
*Fatimid, al-Mustansir / al-Basasiri, dinar, Madinat al-Salam 450h, obv., in field: Ma‘add | ‘Abd Allah wa waliyat | al-Imam Abu Tamim | al-Mustansir billah | Amir al-Mu‘minin, rev., in field: ‘Ali | la ilaha illa Allah | wahdahu la sharik lahu | Muhammad rasul Allah | wali Allah, 3.51g (cf Nicol 2092 = Jafar F.MS.450), edge shaved, double-struck on obverse and some scrapes on obverse, fine to good fine overall and with mint and date clearly legible (as shown enlarged above), of the highest rarity and historically important/ The Fatimid partisan Arslan al-Basasiri was a Turkish general who enjoyed considerable status and prestige in Baghdad under the Buwayhids until their fall in 447h and the coming of the Great Seljuqs under Tughril Beg. Fearing for his own position, al-Basasiri started making overtures to the Fatimids who promised him financial and military support. His opportunity came in 450h when the absence from the capital of the Great Seljuq sultan, Tughril Beg, allowed al-Basasiri able to enter Baghdad with only a small force. He was able to compel the Abbasid caliph, al-Qa'im, to sign a declaration waiving the rights of the Abbasids to the caliphate as long as the Fatimid line endured, and also had the khutba in Baghdad read in the name of the Fatimid al-Mustansir, rather than in that of the Abbasid caliph. All Fatimid dinars struck during this episode are rare. Most surviving coins are dated 451h, and the present specimen is one of only two surviving examples from 450h. The other published piece (Nicol 2092) included the name of a month - Ramadan - in the mint/date legend, which is not found on this coin. This parallels the issues of the following year, which are found with and without the month Muharram. Including the month as well as the year of issue is a feature which recurs from time to time within the Fatimid coinage, and contemporary dinars from the Fatimid mint of al-Mahdiya also bore month names. Jafar reports the contemporary belief that the Fatimids had supplied al-Basasiri with specially-prepared dinars before he took control of Baghdad, bearing the mint-name of 'Madinat al-Salam' but actually made elsewhere. He further notes that standard Fatimid dinars struck at this time were of the characteristic ‘bull’s-eye’ type with several concentric rings of legends, whilst the fields of al-Basasiri's dinars carry legends arranged in several horizontal lines, in a style more like other coin types then circulating in Baghdad.
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*Fatimid, al-Mustansir / al-Basasiri, dinar, Madinat al-Salam 450h, obv., in field: Ma‘add | ‘Abd Allah wa waliyat | al-Imam Abu Tamim | al-Mustansir billah | Amir al-Mu‘minin, rev., in field: ‘Ali | la ilaha illa Allah | wahdahu la sharik lahu | Muhammad rasul Allah | wali Allah, 3.51g (cf Nicol 2092 = Jafar F.MS.450), edge shaved, double-struck on obverse and some scrapes on obverse, fine to good fine overall and with mint and date clearly legible (as shown enlarged above), of the highest rarity and historically important/ The Fatimid partisan Arslan al-Basasiri was a Turkish general who enjoyed considerable status and prestige in Baghdad under the Buwayhids until their fall in 447h and the coming of the Great Seljuqs under Tughril Beg. Fearing for his own position, al-Basasiri started making overtures to the Fatimids who promised him financial and military support. His opportunity came in 450h when the absence from the capital of the Great Seljuq sultan, Tughril Beg, allowed al-Basasiri able to enter Baghdad with only a small force. He was able to compel the Abbasid caliph, al-Qa'im, to sign a declaration waiving the rights of the Abbasids to the caliphate as long as the Fatimid line endured, and also had the khutba in Baghdad read in the name of the Fatimid al-Mustansir, rather than in that of the Abbasid caliph. All Fatimid dinars struck during this episode are rare. Most surviving coins are dated 451h, and the present specimen is one of only two surviving examples from 450h. The other published piece (Nicol 2092) included the name of a month - Ramadan - in the mint/date legend, which is not found on this coin. This parallels the issues of the following year, which are found with and without the month Muharram. Including the month as well as the year of issue is a feature which recurs from time to time within the Fatimid coinage, and contemporary dinars from the Fatimid mint of al-Mahdiya also bore month names. Jafar reports the contemporary belief that the Fatimids had supplied al-Basasiri with specially-prepared dinars before he took control of Baghdad, bearing the mint-name of 'Madinat al-Salam' but actually made elsewhere. He further notes that standard Fatimid dinars struck at this time were of the characteristic ‘bull’s-eye’ type with several concentric rings of legends, whilst the fields of al-Basasiri's dinars carry legends arranged in several horizontal lines, in a style more like other coin types then circulating in Baghdad.
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