148, Lot: 486. Estimate $100. Sold for $350. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC DYNASTIES, Artuqids of Hisn Kayfa and Amid. Fahkr al-Din Qara Arslan. AH 539-570/AD 1144-1174. Æ Dirham (27mm, 6.59 g, 6h). Christ enthroned facing; pseudo countermark: two intertwined dragons, vis-à-vis within hexalobe / Name and titles in three lines across fields; name continued in external voids; c/m: two intertwined dragons, vis-à-vis within hexalobe. S&S Type 2.4. Near VF, brown and dark olive patina.

From the Henry Chitwood Collection.

The sequence of varieties of Type 2 is given: Type 2.1 and 2.1 (Christ enthroned); Type 2.3 (additional countermark of entwined dragons); Type 2.4 (countermark replaced by “medallion” of engraved dragons). The fact that this piece features both the countermark and the medallion suggests the order of the last two should be reversed. The dragon motif was added to the design, and earlier types were then countermarked to re-validate them. The dragons are believed to be of astrological significance, marking a solar eclipse that occurred over the mid-east on 22 June, 1145.