Sale: CNG 61, Lot: 922. Estimate $100.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2002.  Sold For $150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ARAB-SASANIAN. Umayyad Governors. 'al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. AH 81 (699/700 AD). AR Dirhem (3.88 gm). Bishapur mint. Sasanian style bust with name in Kufic; long marginal inscription / Fire altar with attendants. Walker, Arab-Sasanian pg. 121, Flag. 1 (supplementary), pl. XXXVII, 3. VF, pierced and plugged at cardinal points (4 holes). Rare. ($100)

al-Hajjaj was the Governor of Kufa and Basra. He suggested the idea of coinage reform to Caliph 'Abd al-Malik and was an innovator in using Arabic on his own coins.