AE pashiz, Bishapur, 650-700? Obv. two heads, a larger and a smaller (imit. of 7th cent. Byzantine coinage), with text. Rev. A Gopadshah (fable animal with the body of a zebu and a human head), with text. 19,5 mm. 0,52 gr. Gyselen Type 8. AE fals, Chagatayid dynasty, Almaligh, AH 660. Temp. Alughu (659-664/ 1261-1266). 28,5 mm, 4,21 gr. Album 1984-Y. AR dirhem, Rum-Seljuqs, mint Siwas. Kaikhusraw III (1236-1245). Obv. Lion with raising sun. Four stars in the field. Rev. Year 639 (=1241/2). Album 1218. AR mansuri dirhem, Oman. Rassid dynasty (second period). Emir Al-Mutawakkil Ahmad, 643 AH (= 1245/6 AD), Zufar (also known as Dhofar, part of Oman). 24.5 mm, 1.65 gr. Album 1084. If you counted: number ten is to be expected soon! A sceatta, I will show it to you when it arrives.
fantastic top 10 P! I wasn't familiar with 3 of them at all....and didn't know there was a "man head zebu"! how awesome is that?!
Very cool, and very exotic! I had never heard of the Chagatayid dynasty. Nice patina on that one, too. I was unfamiliar with all of these types except the Seljuq one. Which is great. Love the intricate star details (calligraphy?) on the Rassid Omani dirhem.
Yes, the Seljuq is a classic, but I love some of the other islamic coinages, too: the Chagatayid is as rough as the Rassid is refined. I like both styles.
Love the Arab-Sasanian pashiz! (Arab-Sasanian bronze doesn't get enough love, in my opinion.) Never knew the man-headed bull critter was called a Gopadshah. Here's my example of the same reverse, but with a different obverse:
Love the first coin. One day I'd like one. The Gopadshah tradition definitely stems from Acheloios. I list a few varieties here: https://manfacedbulls.wordpress.com/modern/
Thanks, Parthicus, that's an excellently clear coin! And thank you, Nicholas, for the beautiful link. I have a coin like that, here it is. It's certainly a fascinating subject. These coins were local issues, minted in an area that was conquered by the Arabs, but not yet fully islamized. Until about 700 local bronzes were allowed with the good old portraits of Iranian kings, deities and other supernatural beings like gopatshah and the winged senmurv.
I was just reading up on the figure and the first mention I've found is from an early Medieval Zoroastrian text (Mkh. (LXII, 31-36)?, cited in, I think, the Bundahis). Here he's described more like a bull-centaur but the association with water, specifically purifying water, is very clear:
I guess we must all upload our Gōpatshāh examples. Here is mine. This is the seller's picture. When it arrived I ran a toothbrush over the light green stuff to see if it would come off. It didn't, but some other stuff I thought was metal on the Gōpatshāh's rump came off! My understanding is that there is only one Gōpatshāh, and he was a mythical king in pre-Islamic times. Note that it wears a Sasanian-style crown.
