Just won this dinar of Al-Mansur. It is clipped so it is a bit light, but I really wanted a coin from this historical figure. From Wikipedia: "Al-Mansur or Abu Ja'far Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Mansur (95 AH – 158 AH (714 AD– 6 October 775 AD);[1]Arabic: أبو جعفر عبدالله بن محمد المنصور) was the second AbbasidCaliph reigning from 136 AH to 158 AH (754 AD – 775 AD)[2][3] and succeeding his brother Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah. Al-Mansur is generally regarded as the real founder of the Abbasid Caliphate, one of the largest polities in world history, for his role in stabilizing and institutionalizing the dynasty.[4] He is also known for founding the 'round city' of Madinat al-Salam which was to become the core of imperial Baghdad.[5]" From:https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Mansur-Abbasid-caliph "Al-Manṣūr’s achievement, however, was not based simply upon military power. His most lasting monument is the great city of Baghdad, upon which work began, at his command, in 762. The decision to build Baghdad was probably partly due to the restlessness of the chief towns in Iraq, Basra and, especially, Kūfah, but, in part, too, it was a statement by al-Manṣūr that the ʿAbbāsids had come to stay. It was significant that he considered taking some material for the construction of Baghdad from the ruins of Ctesiphon, the capital of the last native Iranian dynasty. Another reason for the construction of the new capital was the need to house the rapidly growing bureaucracy, developed by al-Manṣūr under the influence of Iranian ideas in an attempt to provide a more stable basis for ʿAbbāsid rule." Please post your coins of interesting historical figures. Abbasid. temp. al-Mansur (AH 136-158 / AD 754-775) gold Dinar AH 153 (AD 770/1) Fine - Clipped, no mint, 3.69g, A-212.
I still don't have any Abbasid or Umayyad dinars - that is a nice one! Here is my dirhem of al-Mansur. Not too great, but it only cost 10 bucks and is from the third year of the new Baghdad mint (AH 148 = 765). I'd like to get one from AH 146 but they are hard to find.
I'm glad there are more Islamic coin collectors. Seems to be picking up some trend lately. The al-Mansur is a great dinar to start off with, but then you get sucked in... Abbasid Caliphate: al-Mansur (136-158AH/754-775AD) or al-Mahdi (158-169AH/775-785AD) AV Dinar, NM, 158AH (Album-212; Mitchiner-154) Obv: لا إله إلا / الله وحده / لا شريك له (There is no god but Allah alone. There are no others with Him) Obv Margin: محمد رسول الله ارسله بالهدى و دين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله (Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it.) Rev: محمد / رسول / الله (Muhammad is the messenger of Allah) Rev Margin: بسم الله ضرب هذا الدينر سنة ثمان و خمسين و مئة (In the name of Allah, this dinar was struck in the year fifty-eight and one hundred)
That is a beauty. I was never really interested in Islamic coins until I started reading more about Islamic history. It is a very interesting area. So now I have three Islamic gold coins. I have the one shown above, a coin of Saladin, and one of Sulayman. All 3 are interesting historical figures. I hope you are right about a heightened interest in these coins. I know there is a language barrier, but I still find these coins fascinating along with the men named on them.
I bought these 2 bronze coins yesterday because they show figures. The first shows 2 men like a Sultan and his son, just like the Roman and Byzantine Emperors did. The second coin seems to show something like a strange bird. They weigh respectively 10.95 g. and 5.05 g. Any idea ?
Learned about this via the E-Sylum newsletter and thought it may be of interest - The (free) PDF download link is in the middle of the right hand column. -d --- NEW BOOK: ISLAMIC HISTORY THROUGH COINS, 2ND ED Jere Bacharach is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Washington. He submitted this information on a new edition of his 2006 book on Islamic coins. Thanks.-Editor I am very pleased to share with you the news that the American University in Cairo Press has placed the electronic, revised edition of my Islamic History through Coins: An Analysis and Catalogue of Tenth-Century Ikhshidid Coinage, 2nd ed. (Cairo: AUC Press, 2015) on its Free e-book site at http://www.aucpress.com/t-ebooks.aspx . For those not familiar with the work, the second half of the book is a catalog of all the numismatic material I could find related to the Egyptian-based dynasty and is an important tool for curators, collectors, and dealers in identifying Ikhshidid coins. The first half of the book begins with an introduction for those unfamiliar with numismatic material and ends with a discussion of tenth-century Abbasid coinage. Chapter two details what one can learn from a study of the coins issued during the governorship of the dynasty?s founder, Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid (323-34/935-69), including why al-Ikhshid put his honorific title (laqab) on his regular coinage and the possible reasons for the appearance of a Central Asian symbol (tamga) on a presentation piece. Chapter three analyzes the coinage of the rest of the dynasty including how which part of a medieval Muslim name appeared on the coinage reflected the hierarchy of naming practices and where andwhy the name of Ka!fur, probably the most famous African eunuch in medieval Islamic history, appeared on coins struck outside Ikhshidid lands. The second edition not only corrects errors from the first edition of 2006 but adds new data and examples. The first edition was a co-winner of the Samir Shamma Prize for the best book in Islamic Numismatics, Royal Numismatic Society of Great Britain, for 2006-07. As a free electronic book it may be useful for your own library, and for colleagues and even students, if this is an appropriate category for you.
They're Artuqid (the coolest Islamic bronzes, in my opinion). The two-headed eagle is great... a search suggests Nasir al-Din Mahmud. Here is another one, with a similarly low weight. It may have the date on it in numerals; according to Stephen Album it is the first Islamic type to do so. The other one is Najim al-Din Alpi.
I took a class on Islamic history through coins back in my undergraduate years at Berkeley, pretty interesting. I even wrote a paper on weights and measures and how they related to the coinage, comparing the Egyptian dynasties with the Abbasids and also the emirs of Samarkand. All I have in my collection presently though are several bronze coins bearing the inscription "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger"
If you are thinking of buying this book (which I own) be aware that the part of the title in big print on the cover is very misleading because the book really discusses only "Tenth-Century Ikhshidid Coinage" and that is a very small part of Islamic coinage. The book by Tim Wilkes gives an overview with very many good color photos in a "coins and their values" format. 2999 types on 268 pages with 2 to 6 photos per page, plus some appendices. @7Calbrey would find his two coins in there.
Thank you Valent.. I'll try to buy it here or import the book. Any idea about the price? BTW.. Here are 4 likely relevant coins. The last one is bronze and has a big 8-point-star on both sides. I could read "The king..The priest" as well as Al Imam.
I wish someone would publish a list of cross-references between the Wilkes book and the Stephen Album checklist. It would make both books much more useful. (This lack has so far decided me against picking up the Wilkes.)
Given the time to do it, one would learn a great deal going through those two books and matching them up. That's a project which could end up on a website. Books sometimes come out new editions with new numbers (e.g. Hendin's Biblical Coins editions) and it would be best to have a concordance that is easily adaptable. If anyone is really interested in learning about Islamic [edited to no longer say "Arabic"] coinage, consider taking on this project, or a part of it, and "publish" the result on-line.
Yes, I really hope someone will take this on! Best to say "Islamic coinage" I think, as much of it is not Arabic (beyond using Arabic script).
