A solidus of Heraclius minted in the 600s is very common: However, in the Artukid of Mardin in Anatolia in the 1100's they struck this familiar copper coin: -ARTUKID OF MARDIN - KULB AL DIN EL GHAZI IBN ALPI Turkestan c. 1176- 1184 (33,5mm, 15,36g, 12h)- Now. Look at the obverse of both coins. They have somehow the same details, and even the outfits and fibulae are very similiar. I'm suspecting that solidi gold coins of Heraclius might have been circulated, and even inspired the rulers.... Or it was a pure coicidence. If there are any learned persons here who might shed light on it, I would appreciate it.
The Artuqids, Zengids, and several other Turkic dynasties struck a fairly extensive series of "Turkoman Figural Bronze" coins from around 1150 to 1260, many of which copy older Byzantine, Roman, Greek, or Sasanian coin designs. It's a pretty popular sub-area of Islamic coins, and there's useful two0volume book series "Turkoman Figural Bronze Coins and Their Iconography" by Spengler and Sayles that's worth seeking out. The crispness of the designs, and their variety, argues against copying from centuries-old (and worn) circulating coins; there was most likely some official or private collection of old coins that the coin designers utilized. Here's a few examples from my collection:
These are NOT my coins, of course, but a fex examples of these Artuqid or Zengid 12th-13th c. AD large bronze dirhams imitating ancient coins. You can see a gold stater of Philip Arrhidaeus (4th c. BC), a tetradrachm from Side (2nd-1st c. BC), a Seleucid tetradrachm of Antiochus VII (2nd c. BC), a large bronze of Philip II from Antioch and a silver Sassanid dirham of Shapur I (3rd c. AD)... It is obvious that some kinds of ancient coin collections existed in Mosul, Mardin or Sinjar under the Turcoman atabegs, in the 12th c. AD. And that the Turcoman leaders thought it was a good idea to reproduce their designs on their own coinage. But there were also original designs.
Thank you so much for the replies. So, we can conclude that people in 1000-1200 or so actually had access til ancient coins and were inspired by them. Fascinating.
Here's a link to one that fits this category. I just recently sold it on eBay. The listing is closed because the coin was quickly snapped up (at a great price for the buyer), so this is not a sales post. https://www.ebay.com/itm/137505677673
