Siege Coins

409, Lot: 818. Estimate $75. Sold for $55. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC, Persia (Post-Seljuk). Khwarizm Shahs. temp. Jalal al-Din Mangubarni. AH 617-628 / AD 1220-1231. Lot of 2 Æ Jitals. In the name of “The Prince”. Kurzuwan mint. Includes the following:

(a) Dated Jumada I, AH 618 (June-July AD 1221). Kufic legend: Kurzuwa[n] | la ilah illa Allah | Muhammad rasulu- | allah (Kurzuwa[n] | There is no deity except God | Muhammad is the messenger of | God) / Central Kufic legend: al-Malik (The prince); floral ornaments above and below; marginal Kufic legend: ta'rikh rabi' [al-akhar sanat] thaman 'ashar wa sitt mi'at (Date Rabi' [al-Akhar year] eighteen and six hundred). Tye 324.1; Nyamaa 31; Album 1971; ICV 1965.

(b) Dated Rabbi II, AH 618 (June AD 1221). Kufic legend: [Kurzuwan] | [la ilah] illa Allah | [Muham]mad rasulu- | [a]llah ([Kurzuwan] | [There is no deity] except God | [Muham]mad is the messenger of | God) / Central Kufic legend: al-Malik (the Prince); floral ornaments above and below; marginal Kufic legend: [ta'rikh] jumada al-ula sanat [thaman 'ashar wa sitt mi'at] ([Date] Jumada al-Ula [year eighteen and six hundred]). Tye 324.2; Nyamaa –; Album 1971; ICV 1965

. Both coins VF, usual crude strike.

From the BRN Collection.

These two issues, struck in the name of “The Prince”, were originally thought to have been coins struck under Mongol rule, but now are considered to have been seige coins struck in the city of Kurzuwan while it was being besieged by the Mongols.