259, Lot: 460. Estimate $200. Sold for $150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. AR Drachm (33mm, 3.30 g, 9h). Marw mint. Salm ibn Ziyad, Governor of Khurasan, circa AH 61-65 (AD 680-684). Dated frozen year AH 64 (AD 683/4). Sasanian style bust right; bismallah in margin c/m: forepart of winged creature right / Fire altar with ribbons and attendants; star and crescent flanking flames, date to left, mint signature to right. SICA I 334; Album 18; for c/m: Göbl, Dokumente KM 3. VF, slighty wavy flan.

In AH 61, Salm bin Ziyad was appointed Governor of Khurasan by the Umayyad caliph Yazid I. Three years later, bin Ziyad was deposed and replaced by ‘Abd Allah bin Khazim. The new governor quickly threw in his lot with the rebel faction led by bin Zubayr, dragging Khurasan into internecine conflict. Meanwhile, the Hepthalites took advantage of Arab distraction and invaded the region. In such a fractured state, Khurasan could not resist the Huns, and the whole of the province fell under Hepthalite control for a brief period.