Rare and Attractive Scythopolis Fals

263, Lot: 440. Estimate $300. Sold for $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. AD 635/8-696/7. Æ Fals (32mm, 12.18 g, 7h). Scythopolis (Beit She'an) mint. Justin II, holding globus cruciger, and Sophia, holding cruciform scepter, enthroned facing; star above / Large M; cross above, A/N/N/O to left, Kufic mqsm to right, A below, NIK in exergue. Amitai-Preiss, Berman, and Qedar, “The Coinage of Scythopolis-Baysan and Gerasa-Jerash”, INJ 13, A17 (same obv. die); SICA I -; Album 98. Good VF, earthen dark green patina. Rare and attractive.

The Kufic legend means “a part” and underscores the function of the issue as a fractional denomination.