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Lot 389
Lucilla (wife of Lucius Verus, died 182), aureus, Rome, undated, LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust right, rev., VENVS, Venus standing left, holding apple and sceptre, 7.31g, die axis 1.00 (RIC 783; BMC 320; Calico 2218; C. 69), virtually as struck and rare. Provenance: Monetarium SKA 38, 1 September 1982, lot 156.
Lot 390
Lucilla (wife of Lucius Verus, died 182), aureus, Rome, undated, LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust right, rev., VOTA PVBLICA in three lines within laurel wreath, 7.25g, die axis 6.00 (RIC 790; BMC 327; Calico 2219; C. 97), tiny flaw in reverse field, otherwise virtually as struck and rare
Lot 396
Constantine I, the Great (307-337), solidus, Antioch, 336-337, CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev., VICTORIA CONSTANTINI AVG, Victory advancing left with trophy and palm, flanked by Christogram and LXXII; in ex., SMAN●, 4.45g, die axis 11.00 (RIC 99; Depeyrot 49/1), small scuff on diadem, otherwise extremely fine and rare
Lot 400
Frederick II (1197-1250), augustalis, Messina, after 1231, CESAR AVG IMP ROM, laureate and draped bust right, rev., +FRIDE-RICVS, eagle standing left with open wings and head turned to right, 5.28g, die axis 6.00 (dies of Kowalski U12/A40; Varesi 59; Spahr 98; MEC 14, 514-515; A. d’Andrea, “The Hohenstaufen’s coins of the Kingdom of Sicily”, 2013, p. 57, 128), extremely fine and rare
Lot 199
JALAYRID, TEMP. HASAN BUZURG (736-757h), Dinar, Aydhaj, undated (but see below). Obverse: as an Ilkhanid dinar of Abu Sa‘id, dated 719h (Diler 488). Reverse: kalima in angular calligraphy arranged in square, names of Rashidun around; in centre: duriba bi-Aydhaj. Weight: 4.22g . Good very fine and excessively rare, apparently unpublished. This is a remarkable coin. The obverse appears to have been struck from an official Ilkhanid die of Abu Sa‘id, and the date – 719h – is clearly visible. Frustratingly, the mint-name on this side is difficult to interpret; it may have originally been Bazar, but the die appears to have been either modified or deliberately defaced at this point. The reverse die is anonymous, although the design and calligraphy is very similar to Jalayrid dinars of Hasan Buzurg and Uways I issued during the 750s. Exceptionally, however, the centre contains the mint – Aydhaj – which is very clearly engraved. Aydhaj appears to be unknown as an Ilkhanid mint but silver coins were struck there during the 750s by the Atabegs of Lur Buzurg (various dates from 751-757h), the Jalayrids (known for 756h only) and the Muzaffarids (various dates from 759h onwards). With the exception of the present coin, gold coins from this period appear to be unknown. It seems plausible to suggest that it was produced during the period when Aydhaj came under Hasan Buzurg’s control in 756h, although the existence of silver coins from Aydhaj dated 756h and 757h struck in the name of the atabeg Nur Award argues that Hasan Buzurg can only have claimed power there briefly. This would be fitting with this coin having been produced as an emergency issue, for which an obsolete Ilkhanid die was pressed into service for the obverse.
Lot 186
‡ILKHANID, GHAZAN MAHMUD (694-703h) Heavy dinar, Baghdad 701h. Weight: 12.99g. Reference: Diler 277. Some marginal weakness, very fine or better and very rare. Diler (p.22) records that Ghazan Mahmud fixed the canonical weight of a gold dinar at circa 4.32g. While it may be misleading to speak of ‘denominations’ within Ilkhanid gold coins of this period, surviving specimens of this type all appear to have been carefully struck to the same standard - between 12.82 and 12.98g – and were surely intended as coins of three dinars weight. Lighter Ilkhanid gold coins were also struck in Baghdad during this year but are only known from less ornate dies, which are smaller in diameter and carry shorter legends (Diler 281 and 282). It therefore seems that these handsome, heavy three-dinar pieces were regarded as a special issue, probably made for presentation purposes.
Lot 200
DURRANI, HUMAYUN SHAH (1207h) Mohur, Ahmadshahi 1207h. Weight: 10.91g References: Album 3104 RRR; Friedberg 5a, this coin illustrated; KM 129. Extremely fine, an extremely rare gold issue from this short-lived ruler. Ex Spink auction 12027, 4 December 2012, lot 581. When Taymur Shah died in 1207h he left no fewer than twenty-three sons to compete for his throne. One of these, Humayun Shah, briefly proclaimed himself as ruler but was quickly defeated and blinded by his brother, Zaman Shah, who eventually succeeded Taymur and went on to rule for a further nine years. All coins from Humayun Shah’s ephemeral reign are extremely rare.
Lot 119
FATIMID, AL-MU‘IZZ (341-365h), Dirham, Tabariya 359h. Weight: 2.10g Reference: Nicol 325, citing a single specimen (apparently with the ‘9’ unclear). Wavy flan and with small edge split, almost very fine for issue and extremely rare. This is the earliest recorded date for Fatimid silver coins from Tabariya.
Lot 160
BURJI MAMLUK, FARAJ (FIRST REIGN, 801-808h) Mithqal, al-Qahira 805h. Weight: 4.35g Reference: cf Balog 627 [date not visible]. Very fine and extremely rare. This is a rare survivor of Faraj’s short-lived attempt to reform the coinage by reverting to the ancient Islamic dinar standard of circa 4.25g. As Balog notes, this reform ‘…lasted only two years and ended in complete failure. It is noteworthy that even during these two years (804-5H.), the emission of the accustomed coin-ingots of irregular weight was not discontinued, as if the authorities had, from the beginning, some misgivings as to the effect of the reform.’
Lot 166
AMIRS OF ‘ATHAR, ABU JA‘FAR AL-SAMI B. MUHAMMAD (fl.373-375h), Dinar, ‘Athar 375h. Obverse: In margin: mint and date (inner); unread words (outer); In field: la ilaha lla Allah | Muhammad rasul Allah | al-Ta’i‘ lillah. Reverse: In margin: Qur’an 17:81-82 (inner); unread words (outer); In field: amr bihi al-amir | Abu Ja‘far | al-Sami ibn Muhammad. Weight: 2.71g Reference: Album E1070 RRR, citing a single coin of this ruler, dated 373h. Very fine to good very fine and excessively rare, apparently unpublished
Lot 151
‡FATIMID, ‘AL-MUNTAZAR’ (524-526h), Dinar, al-Iskandariya 525h. Weight: 4.04g Reference: Nicol 2589. Ex-mount, fine or better and very rare. After the assassination of al-Amir in 524h, al-Hafiz was named as his successor but was not initially given the title of caliph. Al-Hafiz was quickly imprisoned by the ambitious Kutayfat, the son of al-Amir’s vizier, who took advantage of this situation to make a grasp for powerf. ‘Kutayfat declared the Fatimid dynasty deposed and proclaimed the sovereignty of al-Mahdi, the twelfth imam of the Twelver Shi’is, whose reappearance had been expected since 260/874. As a result of this ingenious religio-political solution...[Kutayfat] acquired a unique position of power, ruling as a dictator responsible to no one either in theory or practice.’ (Daftary, F., The Isma’ilis: Their History and Doctrines, Cambridge, 2007). Kutayfat struck coins naming al-Muntazar (the ‘Expected One’) until he himself was deposed and executed in 526h.
Lot 60
ABBASID, AL-RASHID (170-193h), Dirham, ‘al-Muhammadiya’ (i.e. Bajunays) 183h. Reverse:, citing Sallam and Mahbub. Weight: 2.77g. Good very fine and extremely rare, apparently unpublished. Somewhat confusingly, the epithet ‘al-Muhammadiya’ was used to denote two different mint-towns at this time: Rayy, and Bajunays (vide Bates, M.L., ‘A Second Muhammadiyya, and the four mints of the Bajunays mine,’ JONS 209, Autumn 2011, pp.14-17). Coins can be attributed to one or the other according to the governors named on the reverse. Sallam is one of the longest-serving governors known on this issue, but Mahbub seems to be previously unknown.
![OTTOMAN, SELIM I (918-926h) Ashrafi, Halab [92]4h. Obverse: Sultan Selim ibn Bayezid khan ‘azza nasrahu Halab darb fi sanat](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/867c10c8-6328-410f-a931-a962010cad74/45afbea7-6b95-48a4-ddfe-f6f84c9ab313/468x382.jpg)
Lot 167
OTTOMAN, SELIM I (918-926h) Ashrafi, Halab [92]4h. Obverse: Sultan Selim ibn Bayezid khan ‘azza nasrahu Halab darb fi sanat 924. Weight: 3.19g References: Olçer 9453; cf Pere 115; cf Künker auction 231, 16 March 2013, lot 9195, same dies. Some flat striking, very fine for issue and very rare
Lot 174
BUWAYHID, RUKN AL-DAWLA , Dinar, Isbahan 354h. Obverse: In margin, at 9 o’clock in tiny lettering, die-engraver’s signature: ‘amal al-Hasan b. Muhammad. Reverse: In field: Rukn al-dawla | Abu ‘Ali | Buwayh within double circle with four annulets at cardinal points. Weight: 4.14g References: Treadwell Is354G (citing a single example). Good very fine and extremely rare. The engraver al-Hasan b. Muhammad, whose signature appears on this coin, produced dies for a several Buwayhid mints between the 330s and 360s. His career has been studied in detail by Luke Treadwell in Craftsmen and Coins: Signed Dies in the Iranian World (third to fifth centuries AH).
Lot 77
‡ABBASID, AL-MU‘TAMID (256-279h), Dinar, al-Ahwaz 273h. Obverse: In field: · | la ilaha illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharik lahu | al-Nasir li-din Allah | al-Muwaffaq billah. Reverse: In field: Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Mu‘tamid ‘ala-’llah. Weight: 3.75g References: Bernardi 180Nd = Qatar 1249 (without pellet above obverse field) Some marginal weakness and lightly creased, almost very fine and extremely rare
Lot 51
‡ABBASID, JAHWAR B. AL-MARRAR, rebel at Rayy (137-138h). Fals, al-Rayy 138h. Obverse: la ilaha | illa Allah | wahdahu within octagon formed by two squares; date legend around. Reverse: Within square with circles at corners and in the middle of each side: Muhamamd | rasul | Allah; around which: mimma amr bihi al-amir Jahwar ibn al-Marrar bi’l-Rayy. Weight: 2.43g. References: Miles, Rayy 41; cf Peus auction 407, 7 November 2012, lot 1424. Good very fine and extremely rare. This extremely rare issue was struck by Jahwar b. al-Marrar, whom the caliph al-Mansur sent to Khurasan in 137h to suppress a revolt led by a certain Sinbadh. Jahwar quickly defeated Sinbadh, but no sooner had he done so than he himself rebelled against al-Mansur, occupying Rayy. Al-Mansur’s response was to dispatch another, larger army under one of his best and most loyal commanders, Muhammad b. al-Ash‘ath, by whom Jahwar was soon expelled from Rayy, dying soon afterwards. It has been suggested that the design on the reverse of this coin may be a representation of a defensive wall with circular towers – possibly the Shahrestan of Rayy.
![‡FATIMID, AL-MUSTANSIR (427-487h) Quarter-dinar, Filastin 445h. Weight: 1.07g Reference: cf Nicol 2081 [dated 455h]. Some d](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/867c10c8-6328-410f-a931-a962010cad74/b3a83e11-e999-45b7-8fd4-a1fd7856c359/468x382.jpg)
Lot 44
UMAYYAD Fals, Anbulus (probably Nablus in Filastin), undated. Obverse: In field: Muhammad | rasul | Allah . Weight: 3.05g References: cf SNAT IVa, 254ff. Almost very fine, very rare and apparently unpublished . The mint-name has also been read as Baniyas, but the penultimate letter appears to be connected to the final ‘s’ and should therefore be a ‘l’ – hence ‘Anbulus’ is considered the more likely reading. This unpublished variety appears to be a mule, with the ‘obverse’ struck from the reverse die of a common anonymous fals..
Lot 57
‡ABBASID, AL-KHAYZURAN (wife of al-Mahdi, mother of al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid, d. 173h). Lead seal. Obverse: in two lines: barakat min Allah | al-Khayzuran. Reverse: showing evidence of the lead being folded over, as well as the pattern of the cloth it originally sealed, Dimensions: 26 x 15mm; Weight: 8.60g. Good very fine, excessively rare and historically important. Al-Khayzuran bint ‘Atta was born in present-day Saudi Arabia, near Bisha. Captured and enslaved as a girl, she was bought in a slave market near Makka by the future caliph al-Mahdi. Celebrated for her beauty and intellect, she became his favourite concubine. On al-Mahdi’s succession to the caliphate al-Khayzuran not only persuaded him to free her but also to marry her, thereby supplanting his former wife Rayta, a daughter of the caliph al-Saffah. Al-Khayzuran was even able to have al-Hadi and al-Rashid made caliphal heirs in preference to the son whom Rayta had borne to al-Mahdi. Al-Khayzuran was a prominent figure at al-Mahdi’s court, playing a major role not only in court life but also in the politics of the day. Her high profile and the freedom and equality with which she mixed with men were exceptional for the time, and while al-Mahdi’s respect and admiration for her meant that he was happy for her to play such a public role at court, her son al-Hadi felt very differently. On becoming caliph in 169h he attempted to reduce his mother’s influence and to have her retire to the harem. For her part, al-Khayzuran was determined to retain her status, and it is reported that al-Mahdi eventually lost his temper very publicly, yelling at his mother and demanding that she retire indoors immediately and confine her interests to spinning wool and reading the Qur’an. To say that al-Khayzuran was unimpressed would be an understatement, and some accounts claim that she was responsible for al-Hadi’s death in 170h. Perhaps wisely, al-Rashid took a different view after succeeding al-Hadi as caliph, and he allowed her to continue to play an important and highly visible role in government until her death. Numismatically, her exceptional status is reflected in the fact that coins were struck in her name. It has been suggested that this seal would have been affixed to a small bag containing alms, which would have been distributed when al-Khayzuran herself performed the Hajj for the second time in 171h. By now a person of the highest status, she is recorded as having restored several holy sites during her stay in Makka, including the house in which the Prophet was reportedly born, and the building in which he and his first followers had met in secret.
Lot 124
‡FATIMID, AL-MU‘IZZ (341-365h), Dinar, Makka 363h. Weight: 4.19g Reference: Nicol 385, citing a single example known only from ‘notes taken in 1979…present whereabouts unknown.’. Small area of weak striking in margin, otherwise almost extremely fine and excessively rare. THE FIRST FATIMID DINAR STRUCK IN THE HOLY CITY OF MAKKA, During the 3rd/9th century, the Abbasid caliphs were responsible for ensuring that Makka itself was secure and that both trade and pilgrimage routes in the region were safe. As the power of the caliphs dwindled under al-Muqtadir and his successors, this role was increasingly assumed by local sharifs from the early 4th/10th century onwards. The chief threat to Makka during this period came from the Qarmatids, a radical Isma‘ili sect with its origins in Eastern Arabia. In 317h they attacked Makka itself, killing many people and carrying off the Black Stone. It was only after the Fatimids arranged to pay 50,000 dinars to the Qarmatids that the Stone was returned in 339h, and one contemporary writer records that it had been broken in two so that silver bars were used to repair it. The sharifs who governed Makka can hardly have been well-disposed towards the Qarmatids, who also had a bad reputation for attacking pilgrims – which was not only impious but also affected the commercial wellbeing of the city. But they seem to have had little choice but to cooperate with them to a certain extent, and for the first half of the fourth century it seems that an awkward but pragmatic relationship developed between Qarmatids and sharifs. Virtually no coins were struck at Makka during the first half of the 4th/10th century. Production of standard Abbasid dinars and dirhams seems to have ceased circa 302h, after which undated silver sudaysis were struck there by the Rassid al-Nasir Ahmad b. Yahya (301-325h). Thereafter we have a lacuna of some thirty years until 354h, when a dinar was struck there acknowledging the Abbasid caliph al-Muti‘ and also bearing the single letter kaf, in reference to Kafur, the Ikhshidid ruler in Egypt. It is not clear who issued this coin: it might conceivably have been produced anonymously by one of the sharifs, but the piece has obvious similarities with contemporary dinars issued by the amirs of ‘Athar from the late 330s until the early 350s. The link to Kafur is confirmed by the existence of a dinar struck at Makka three years later, in 357h, on which Kafur’s name is given in full. Whoever struck these coins evidently felt Kafur and the Ikhshidids were the most important power in the region at that time. The arrival of the Fatimids in the region changed this uneasy balance of power. Following the death of Kafur in 357h the Ikhshidid succession was disputed between Ahmad, the eleven-year-old son of ‘Ali b. al-Ikhshid, and the ambitious general al-Hasan b. ‘Ubaydallah. Meanwhile, Egypt was also struggling with economic and agricultural problems caused by poor Nile floods which sparked social unrest. The Fatimids took advantage of these difficulties by sending an army under Jawhar which successfully captured Egypt in 358h, whereupon they briefly concluded a peace treaty with the Qarmatids. For several years afterwards Fatimid armies struggled to seize control of Syria and Palestine; their opponents were the Qarmatids, supported variously by the remnants of the Ikhshidids, the ‘Uqaylids, the Buwayhids, and financially by the Hamdanids, all of whom had their reasons for wanting the Fatimids driven out of the region. Although the Fatimids already had a strong presence in the area and the sharifs of Makka had originally accepted Fatimid authority, the Qarmatids seem to have been able to drive out the pro-Fatimid element and establish themselves in Makka by 359h. Surviving dinars indicate that they continued to control the city as late as 362h, but they suffered a serious blow when the Fatimids defeated a Qarmatid army near Cairo in the following year. This defeat was clearly a major blow given that virtually no Qarmatid coins were struck in the region during the year 363h, while the Fatimids were able to issue both gold and silver coins in Palestine during this year. It is tempting to suggest that this Qarmatid defeat also weakened their position in Makka. Our sources confirm that al-Mu‘izz’s name was acknowledged in the khutba in both Makka and Madina in 363h and 364h, and it is entirely appropriate that Fatimid coins should also have been produced there in these two years. This beautifully engraved and excessively rare dinar remains a tangible expression of Fatimid sovereignty there.
Lot 182
‡BATINITE RULER OF ALAMUT, TEMP. ‘ALA AL-DIN MUHAMMAD B. AL-HASAN (618-653h) Fractional dirham, without mint or date. Obverse: al-mawla | al-a‘zam; pellet between lines. Reverse: ‘ala al-dunya | wa’l-din; two small points between lines. Weight: 1.88g Reference: Hamdan/Vardanyan 40. Good very fine, rare
Lot 93
ABBASID, AL-MUQTADIR (295-320h) Dinar, Barda‘a 319h. Obverse: In field: pellet and bar | la ilaha illa Allah | wahdahu la sharik lahu | Abu’l- ‘Abbas bin | Amir al-mu’minin | pellet. Reverse: In field: two pellets either side of lillah | horizontal bar below Muhammad | two horizontal bars below rasul | vertical and horizontal bar beneath al-Muqtadir billah. Weight: 4.39g References: Bernardi 242Kf RRR; Vardanyan 2013, 99 (slightly different arrangement of pellets and bars in fields). Weakly struck in parts but very fine to good very fine for issue and extremely rare. Barda‘a is an extremely rare mint for Abbasid gold. The arrangement of the shahada in two lines rather than three is characteristic of gold dinars from mints in the Caucasus during al-Muqtadir’s reign.
Lot 68
ABBASID, AL-MA’MUN (194-218h), Dirham, al-Muhammadiya 204h. Reverse: citing the Shi‘ite al-Rida as heir to the caliphate. Weight: 2.91g References: Lowick 1969; Miles, Rayy 105B. Good very fine and rareThis very rare type of al-Rida’s coinage has annulets in the outer margin in place of the usual Qur’anic legend, and omits his personal name ‘Ali bin Musa.
Lot 188
‡ILKHANID, ULJAYTU (703-716h), Dinar, Shiraz 711h. Weight: 4.82g Reference: Diler 365 (this date not listed). Almost extremely fine and rare. The date on this coin is written as a combination of words and numerals, with the century given as ‘700’ and the remainder written in full as ihda ‘ashra.
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