Ilkhans (Mongols of Persia). AE fals. Mint and date not readable. Abu Sa'id (1316-1335 CE/716-736 AH(. Obverse: Standard religious inscriptions. Reverse: Inscription naming Abu Sa'id, surrounding lion walking right. Album 2220. This coin: Pars Coins Bargain eSale 31 (January 23, 2025), lot 211. (note: reused text below.) The Ilkhans were a Mongol dynasty based mainly in Persia and extending into its immediate neighbors. The dynasty was founded by Hulagu, a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of both Kublai Khan and Mongke Khan. Hulagu was ordered to conquer the Abbasid caliphate, which he did in 1258, then declared himself as Ilkhan (subordinate khan). His descendants would rule for another 80 years. Abu Sa'id took the throne in 1316. Early in his reign, he defeated an invasion by the Golden Horde (another Mongol offshoot) in Azerbaijan and several simultaneous rebellions at different parts of the empire. In the 1330s, the Black Death ranged widely, and in 1335 both Abu Sa'id and his son were killed by the plague. He was succeeded by various short-lived claimants, and the Ilkhanate broke up into multiple rival states. Ilkhan coinage is quite complicated, with multiple types per ruler and over 250 different mints known. (They actually make the Sasanians look conservative in their assignment of mints.) Abu Sa'id struck many different pictorial types in his bronzes, mainly lions but also other animals and symbols. Although the lion on this piece isn't highly detailed, it nonetheless has a certain charm, and it was reasonably cheap, so I am happy with it. Please post your coins of Abu Sa'id, or whatever else is related.
14th century AD. Isn't that rather late in the game for an Islamic coin to show a picture of an animal? I mean, wasn't the iconoclastic disfavor of "graven images" in Islamic art pretty established by that time (i.e., no critters, no people?) I guess there were regional/cultural exceptions. I do find an Islamic coin with pictorial images interesting.
This rough fals is much earlier, attributed by seller as Umayyad, Emesa mint, 696-750 AD. I like the elephant.
@lordmarcovan : An excellent question! There are pictorial issues scattered throughout Islamic coinage, but they tend to be concentrated in certain specific places and times. Once the "reformed" (text-only) coinage started in the early 700s, imagery on gold and silver died out very quickly in the Arab heartland of the Umayyad Caliphate, though it persisted for a while in the Central Asian edges for silver coins, and many Umayyad bronzes have animals. Then imagery pretty much dies out until the arrival of Turkic Muslims, with the Seljuk Turks and the Turkoman Atabegs (including the well-known Artuqids and Zengids plus the more obscure Lu'lu'ids, Danishmendids, etc.). We also see many pictorial issues among the Ilkhans (Mongols of Persia) like the OP coin, and later, in the "civic coppers" issued fairly independently by cities in Persia and Afghanistan. The two keys to the later pictorial issues are: 1 usually on copper/bronze rather than precious metals, and 2. usually not in Arab areas. I might be able to develop a coherent thesis of the exact cultural differences that led to this, if someone gives me a research grant first. Hope this brief note helps.
