Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Abd al-Rahman b. 'Abdallah. fl. AH 79 / AD 697. AR Drachm (25mm, 2.30 g, 9h). AKWLA (Al-Kufa) mint. Dated AH 79 (AD 698/9) in Pahlavi numerals. VF, clipped.

Islamic Auction 7 - Session One
Lot: 6.
Closing Date: Oct 24 2024 11:00 GMT

Pre-Reform Issues, Silver

Estimate: $ 1 000

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Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Abd al-Rahman b. 'Abdallah. fl. AH 79 / AD 697. AR Drachm (25mm, 2.30 g, 9h). AKWLA (Al-Kufa) mint. Dated AH 79 (AD 698/9) in Pahlavi numerals. Obverse margin: — / bism Allah / — / — / Reverse: mint-name to left, date to right. Malek, Arab-Sasanian p. 267, Fig. 9.16 = SICA 1, 6; Album A28; ICV 48. VF, clipped. Extremely rare.

On the reverse of this extremely rare type the mint-signature and date are transposed, so that the mint appears on the left and the date on the right. The date is written entirely in Pahlavi numerals and is to be read as ‘70+3+3+3’, i.e AH 79.

While some examples weighing circa 2.9-3g have been described by previous writers as ‘clipped’, these coins nevertheless have their marginal legends and stars-in-crescents fully visible. It seems more likely, given that post-Reform Umayyad dirhams were issued at al-Kufa from AH 78 onwards, that ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Abdallah’s drachms were struck to something approaching the post-Reform dirham standard, using dies and flans of smaller module than the main Arab-Sasanian coinage

Closing Date and Time: at 14:01:40 ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and in person at the public auction, 25% for all others.