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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 24589663, member: 81887&quot;][ATTACH=full]1561596[/ATTACH] </p><p>Arab-Byzantine.&nbsp; No date, struck c.73-78 AH (693-697 CE).&nbsp; Amman mint.&nbsp; Obverse: Standing Caliph, sheathed sword slung over left side, Arabic inscription around.&nbsp; Reverse: Steps surmounted by transformed cross, star to left, Arabic inscription around.&nbsp; Album 112.&nbsp; This coin: Zurqieh, May 2023.</p><p><br /></p><p>As the early Muslim armies swept out of Arabia and into the Sasanian and Byzantine Empires, they soon ran into the problem of what coin types to strike in the newly acquired territories.&nbsp; For the first few decades, most coin types were based on the coins that had previously circulated in that region.&nbsp; Coins struck in Mesopotamia, Persia, and other former Sasanian territory mostly followed Sasanian models, while coins in former Byzantine lands largely followed Byzantine types.&nbsp; The reverse of this coin is based on contemporary Byzantine gold solidi, which featured a cross at the top of several steps.&nbsp; However, since the issuer of this coin is not Christian, the cross has been transformed into... well, I&#039;m not sure exactly what I&#039;d call it, but it is definitely no longer a cross.&nbsp; The obverse type, featuring a standing figure with sword which is thought to represent the Caliph, seems to be novel, and is not closely based on any contemporary Byzantine coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>The caliph at the time this coin was struck was &#039;Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (65-86 AH/685-705 CE).&nbsp;&nbsp; &#039;Abd al-Malik succeeded his father Marwan in 685 CE, at a time of turmoil in the Islamic world.&nbsp; The Umayyad Caliphate was having trouble holding onto power, and there were several rival pretenders to the caliphate and other rebellions.&nbsp; This map, borrowed from Wikipedia, shows the various territories under the control of different factions in 686 (the red area is what is solidly under &#039;Abd al-Malik&#039;s control):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1561597[/ATTACH] </p><p>Within a few years, &#039;Abd al-Malik and his commanders would regain control over the entire Muslim world and take steps to consolidate Umayyad, and Arab, power.&nbsp; He established a major garrison in Wasit to better control southern Iraq, reformed the system of military pensions to reduce expenditures, and made Arabic the sole official language of government to foster unity throughout the Caliphate.&nbsp; He also started the &quot;Post-Reform&quot; coinage of gold dinars and silver dirhams, which replaced the former designs with standardized, simple inscriptions in Arabic lacking in any pictorial images. Bronze coinage was more local, but coins consisting solely of Arabic script quickly became the most common types, too.&nbsp; The Standing Caliph bronzes seem to have ended pretty quickly around 78 CE, right at the time the Post-Reform coins were introduced.&nbsp; This is an interesting coin from a tumultuous period in history, and it was not expensive at $35.&nbsp; Please post whatever coins you have that are related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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