Abbasid Caliphate. AR dirham (2.96 g, 21 mm). Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad) mint. al-Mustansir (1226-1242), dated 637 AH (1239-40 CE). Obverse: Standard religious inscription in center quatrefoil, inscription giving mint and date around. Reverse: Standard religious inscriptions in quatrefoil and along outside. Album 272. This coin: NBJ Auction 13, lot 433 (February 5, 2025). The Abbasid Caliphate was founded in 750, when the Abbasid rebels successfully overthrew the previous Umayyad Caliphate. The Abbasids soon created a fabulous new capital city, Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad), and the succeeding century or so is often considered the Islamic Golden Age, with the arts and sciences flourishing and a highly prosperous economy. But starting in the mid 9th century, various provinces started to assert their political independence, while still acknowledging the Abbasid Caliph in religious matters and often citing him on their new coinages. By 945, the Caliphs no longer had temporal power even in their own city of Baghdad, but the Caliphate continued to be widely respected and recognized as a religious authority. In the mid 12th century, the Abbasids began to reassert their political authority over Mesopotamia and part of western Iran. The Abbasid caliph al-Mustanjid formally declared independence from the Seljuks in 1165. The caliph who issued this coin, al-Mustansir, ruled from 1226 to 1242 and was the next-to-last Abbasid caliph to rule from Baghdad. His reign is notable mainly for establishing a major madrassa and for annexing the northern Mesopotamian city of Irbil. al-Mustansir died in 1242 and was succeeded by his son, al-Musta'sim, who was killed in 1258 when the Mongols under Hulagu sacked Baghdad, ending the Abbasid Caliphate. While there was some variation, the basic format of Abbasid dirhams was fairly consistent over time. The form of the script is different from that used in 750, and the central inscriptions are enclosed within quatrefoil patterns instead of simple circles, but there is overall similarity to the coins issued nearly 5 centuries earlier. This is a nice historical coin, a reminder of the moment just before the destruction of Baghdad and the Abbasid Caliphate along with it. Please post your related coins.
