This is the absolute last coin in FFIVN and my ancient collection that is unidentified. I figured it would be pretty easy since all the needed parts are pretty easily readable. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it using the resources at my disposal. The coin in question is 1.8 grams and approximately 24-25mm diameter. That leads me to believe that it is a hemidrachm. I was only able to find Sasanian drachms and none of the ruler's names fit with what I have (not that I can tell at least). I also found some Tabaristan hemidrachms that look similar but couldn't find many resources. This is closest match I can find: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces78512.html Does anyone have any resources for these coins or can you shed some light on an identification? Much appreciated!
Looks like this... https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/un...n_ar__drachmumar_b_alala/1164448/Default.aspx
The one in your link and in the one I posted look the same. Yours has much clearer pictures on the reverse and I feel pretty confident that it is a match. Thanks! Not too shabby for pulling him out of a "junk bin".
Your welcome, glad it helped...Here's a resource I sometimes use...Paul http://grifterrec.org/coins/islam/arab_sas/asas_tabaristan.html Great find ....
The link Spaniard gave is the best I have and overall a great site for Eastern coins. My favorite one of this series is by Sulayman ibn Musa who observed the Islamic ban on representing human faces so his coins have a diamond with the word 'good' where others had a face. There must have been a huge hoard of Tabaristan silver not too long ago. We see many high grade coins on the market but I have no idea which ones are common and which carry a premium. The coins are thin and easily damaged. I would suggest not paying a high price for less than perfect coins. Yours strikes me as better than we expect in a junk bin unless the dealer knew the series.
I saw examples like yours when I was looking for mine. That is a pretty interesting coin, historically. I picked my coin up for $12 so I am pretty happy with it
The reference book for these coins is Malek, The Dabuyid Ispahbads and Early Abbasid Governors of Tabaristan: History and Numismatics. Since most collectors probably don't have that particular book (including myself), Malek has been generous in posting a lot of his articles and materials on academia.edu (https://oxford.academia.edu/HodgeMalek) which can be used for a better attribution. Your particular coin is defined as Malek 78 and is the sixth series of Umar b. al-Ala's coins. This is identifiable by the star within a circle in his breast ornament and the name in Arabic. You can read all about this in Tabaristan during the 'Abbasid period: The overlapping coinage of the governors and other officials (144-178H). Here is a clearer example of your coin (this is not my coin):
The coin below is another Umar hemidrachm. At the time, Arab influences supplanted the Persian tradition. The difference with the previous Umar coin is that this one still has the name in Persian Pahlavi script instead of Arab.
Here is one you normally don't see. Its a recent acquisition and I have been spending some time putting together a proper attribution. Unfortunately, Book Pahlavi is yet to be encoded in Unicode, so I can't render that. There is still some room for improvement... Abbasid Governors of Tabaristan: Muqātil (PYE 136-141 / AH 171-176 / AD 788-792) Æ Unit, Tabaristan, PYE 139 (Album 68; Malek 124.1-8) Obv: Crowned Sasanian style bust facing right; GDH 'pzwt in Pahlavi left and مقاتل (Muqātil) in Arabic right of bust; 'pd and nwk' in Pahlavi in Q2/Q3 obverse margins; breast ornament with 4 pellets Rev: nw'sywst' (PYE 139) left and (Tabaristan) right; Fire altar flanked by attendants; star left and crescent right of flames Dim: 17mm; 0.80 gm
