Rare Baghdad Issue of Timur

409, Lot: 850. Estimate $300. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC, Persia (Post-Mongol). Timurids. Timur (Tamerlane). AH 771-807 / AD 1370-1405. AR Tanka (24mm, 6.18 g, 6h). Citing Chagatai khan Mahmud. Baghdad mint. [Dated AH 795 (AD 1393)]. Naskh legend: la ilah illa Allah, | Muhammad rasulu- | -allah [...] (There is no deity except God, | Muhammad is the messenger of | God [...]) / Central Naskh legend: al-sultan Mahmud Khan, | [dariba(?)] Baghdad | amir Timur Kurkan | khallada Allah (Sultan Mahmud Khan, | [struck at(?)] Baghdad | amir Timur Kurkan); [date in margin]. SICA 9, –; Album 2386; Zeno 52221 (this coin). VF, toned, area of flat strike. Very rare.

From the BRN Collection.

Baghdad was the site of one of the most well known atrocities during Timur’s reign. The city was captured by Timur in 1393, forcing Ahmad Jalayir, the sultan of the Jalayrids, to flee to the Mamluks for protection. In 1394, Ahmad returned to Baghdad with an army, forcing Timur’s suzerain there to flee. The city remained under Jalayrid rule for the next seven years, until Timur returned in 1401. Timur besieged Baghdad for 40 days, until he had enough, and ordered his troops to storm the city. In retaliation for its intransigence, Timur ordered that the citizens be slaughtered, and the public buildings raized. The destruction was such that Timur felt no need to install a new governor, since there appeared to be nothing left.