@dltsrq Most excellent. Thanks for your time and expertise. I am really trying to get a better grip on Islamic coins as they represent a good chunk of numismatic history. So then it is true the coin is large beautiful and Double RARE!!!!
Hey Noob, that's a very cool new addition!! (coingrats, brother!!) Islamic, Anatolia & al-Jazira, AE Dirhem, etc, etc, etc ... 1170-1180 AD (1171/2) Young male with winged figures & 5 lines of text ... pretty cool 3/4-facing dude, eh? Hmmm, what do you think those winged creatures are carrying? Answer => Draped young male bust facing slightly left, wearing hair in foreknot
One small correction. I inadvertently added the word "alone" to the obverse (sometimes the case but not here). Nice catch for a bit over melt!
Ha - I never would have known!! I do have another of this ruler in silver. 31 mm x 7.45 grams. Mint of Balkh
@dltsrq I also wanted to acknowledge the awesomeness of your avatar. Looks like we hang in the same circles...
I showed a pic of the coin to a friend at work who speaks Arabic, but is not a coin collector. His translation is attached.
very cool coin and thanks for the translation. keep that guy at work handy, we'll need him again. these are my "text only" islamic coins.... ottoman muwahid calphate qarakhanid
I bought two coins with Arabic text and he translated both. One had Hindi text on one side! I will ask him to translate.
What is being read above as "king of the muslims" is actually امير المومنين (amir al-mu'minin) or "commander of the faithful", a title given to the caliph (in this case, al-Nasir) and, in context on this coin, a part of the sultan's honorific title برهان امير المومنين (burhan amir al-mu'minin) or "proof of the commander of the faithful". The word usually translated into English as "king" is ملك (malik). "King of the muslims" therefore would be ملك المسلمين (malik al-muslimin), something unlikely to be found on a medieval Islamic coin.
@Ancientnoob Unfortunately, yes. The date, written out in words anti-clockwise, is in the margin of the right-hand image. At about 7 o'clock we have the word سنة (sanat) "year", a flat spot at 6 o'clock, then from 5 o'clock عشرة وست مئة ('ashrat wa sitt mi'at) "ten and six hundred". The flat spot is where the digit was in the die. If the date were 610, there would be no space for a flat spot. It also can not be 618 or 619 as those dates belong to the following reign.
Well thanks! That narrows it down alot now it can only 611-617. I'm cool with a 6 yr spread on an 800 yr old coin.