'Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Qa'im. AH 422-467 / AD 1031-1075. AV Dinar (22mm, 4.01 g, 9h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 455 (AD 1063). Superb EF.

CNG Islamic Auction 2
Lot: 183. Estimated: $ 20 000

‘Abbasid Caliphate, Gold

Sold For $ 20 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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'Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Qa'im. AH 422-467 / AD 1031-1075. AV Dinar (22mm, 4.01 g, 9h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 455 (AD 1063). Obverse field: elaborate ornament above, other ornaments below and to sides of legend / Reverse field: Muhammad rasul Allah / al-Imam al-Qa’im / bi-amr Allah amir / al-mu’minin, ‘Uddat - al-Din - Abu’l-Qasim above, to right, and to left of field. Jafar A.MS 455A; Album 265Q. Slightly wavy flan. Superb EF. Lustrous. Excessively rare and historically important.

This is the first purely ‘Abbasid gold dinar struck in Baghdad since the forced abdication of al-Mustakfi in AH 334 (AD 945/6), more than a century before this handsome coin was issued.

Following the death of Tughril Beg, the Seljuq Sultan, the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Qa’im found himself in a delicate position while two rival claimants, Sulayman and Alp Arslan, fought for the Sultanate. Before Alp Arslan emerged victorious, al-Qa’im struck dinars in Baghdad which named neither of the two Seljuq rivals. On the one hand, this can be interpreted as prudent caution: without knowing which of the two claimants would emerge victorious, it would have been unwise for the caliph to be seen to favour one over the other by naming him on the coinage. But the addition of the name of al-Qa’im’s heir, who appears on the reverse with the honorific title ‘Uddat al-Din ( ‘Promise of Faith’), suggests that the caliph may have been making a grander and more ambitious statement on these coins. Tughril Beg had harboured ambitions to establish marriage links with the caliph, and this dream of a caliph with Seljuq blood in his veins was to persist throughout the Seljuq period. By reinforcing the claims of his own choice as heir to the Caliphate, al-Qa’im was able to take this opportunity to counteract Tughril Beg’s schemes.

In the event, Alp Arslan emerged victorious. Preoccupied with his own military campaigns, he never visited Baghdad during his ten-year reign, and he kept his involvement with the caliph’s affairs to a minimum. ‘Uddat al-Din, named here on the coinage for the first time, duly succeeded to the caliphate as al-Muqtadi billah in AH 467 (AD 1074/5)

The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 2 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 27 October 2022.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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