Sale: CNG 60, Lot: 1090. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 May 2002.  Sold For $600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ARAB-HEPHTHALITE. Anonymous issues in the name of Khusro II. Before 700 AD. AR Drachm (3.49 gm). Imitating post-Yazdgard Year 37 (AH69/688 AD). Imitation of AY (unknown central Iraqi) mint. Crowned Sasanian style bust right; no "bismillah," Sogdian tamgha in right margin, Sogdian inscription in lower left margin / Fire altar flanked by attendants; additional beaded border around rim. Walker Arab-Sassanian -; Album -; for tamgha, cf. Göbl km 62 (a countermark). EF. Very rare, and hitherto unpublished. ($1000)

This piece is struck during the period of warfare between the Zubayrids, Umayyads, and Hephthalites. The Tamgha and marginal legend assure that this is a Hunnic issue, as does the unusual ornamental outer ring on the reverse. The fact that Sasanian dating is used and not Hejiera is another interesting aspect of this Hunnic coin. This coin, and the two subsequent lots, have both escaped countermarking - because the Sogdian legend and tamgha have been transfered to the obverse. Because the legends replicate the countermarks, the earlier imitations, which do not bear the legends, all bear the countermark. Thus, the coins having a tamgha and Sogdian legend are probably slightly later.