Hi!! I recently aquired a large coin ~31 mm. I think it is bronze but that is all that I know about it. I was wondering if anyone here could help me with identification of the coin. Thank you in advance.
I'm just guessing and I am not in any way an expert of any kind on these, but it reminds me of a reproduction I saw long ago.
It is a so-called "Turkoman bronze". (The reverse is pictured upside down.) It is of the Artuqid dynasty, issued by Husam al din Yuluq Arslan (c. 1185-1201). Spengler and Sayles type 34. Foes of the Crusaders issued Islamic coins that had figures, as opposed to most coins with Arabic which are entirely legends. Thus they are sometimes called "figural bronze." There are fewer than 100 types which make for an interesting collecting theme. Here is my page with some reference works about them: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/catalogs/Turkoman.html
Really interesting coin. Looks like someone made a mishmash of a 1st century Roman provincial with a later Byzantine coin.
Welcome to cointalk! Kudos for being a new member who is posting a real coin and not the usual tourist fake or fantasy piece! Ancient coins are fascinating and many are very reasonable in price. John
These early Islamic pieces which still showed people on them are interesting, though I know next to nothing about them. Due to aniconism forbidding any kind of idolatry, you will seldom see portraits of people or animals on later Islamic coinage; only calligraphic script. That script can of course be beautiful in its own right, but it's fun to see pictorial elements and portraits on these. I particularly like the combination of both facing and profile busts on this coin. Great piece. Nice patina and eye appeal.
wow!! I really didn't expect a response, let alone so soon. I truly joined the right site.Thank you very much!!!
In the early days of the Umayyads the "standing caliph" type was common based somewhat on Byzantine coinage. However, soon iconography and graven images were prohibited so that we get the phrase in script "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his messenger" amongst other phrases. It's kind of an interesting proscription because one of the hadiths states that there are 99 faces of god. (Allah) This may be a hearkening back to the days of polytheism in the Arabian peninsula. Anyway, today's Sunni Islam rejects this notion for the most part, especially amongst the more devout groups of militant Islam. Surah 30 (Ar-Rum) discusses the fall of the Byzantines but also the defeat of the Persians by the Byzantines under Heraclius. https://www.noblequran.com/translation/surah30.html Anyway the OP coin is pretty cool and somewhat deviates from the standard proscription.
