Arab-Sasanian, Abbasid Caliphate. Shiraz mint. AE fals (2.22 g, 19 mm). AH 137 (AD 754/5). Obverse: Sassanian-style bust right, Arabic legend "Muhammad rasul Allah" (Muhammad is the Prophet of God) around. Reverse: First half of the Kalima "la ilah illa/ Allah wahdadu/ la sherik lahu" (There is no god but God/ He is alone/ no partner to Him), surrounded by legend giving date and mint (partially off flan). Album B335. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 7 (July 14, 2020), lot 553. As I've discussed in previous posts, the early Islamic caliphates took a while before they started issuing a truly new coinage style. The earliest coins imitated the designs of existing currency of the newly-conquered lands, leading to "Arab-Byzantine" coinage in bronze (plus some very rare gold types) and "Arab-Sasanian" coinage in both silver and bronze. The first "Post-Reform" coins featuring designs entirely of Arabic script were struck in AH 77 (696 AD) and quickly became standard throughout the Islamic world. While Arab-Sasanian silver types continued for a number of decades in a few outlying areas (notably Tabaristan on the coast of the Caspian Sea and Sistan at the eastern edge of the caliphate), both Arab-Byzantine and Arab-Sasanian bronze production seems to have ended by about 720 AD. Except, not completely. This coin from Shiraz, in southwestern Iran, bears a very Sasanian-style portrait, but the reverse type is strictly post-reform, and even bears the date of AH 137 (AD 754/5). This is unusual for featuring both Arab-Sasanian and Post-Reform design types (there are a couple of other very rare examples), and seems to be the latest Arab-Sasanian bronze issue. I have been unable to find any explanation for why such a type was issued. So far, all I can say is that bronze coinage was much less centrally regulated than silver and gold, and local mints had more freedom to experiment with bronze designs. (There's a similar coin, also from Shiraz, dated AH 126. Maybe the local mint master just liked the Sasanian portrait style?) Anyway, definitely an interesting coin, and quite rare. Album rates it RRR (his highest rarity rating: "Almost never available. Few collectors will ever have the chance to acquire these pieces.") Please post your Arab-Sasanian coins, or coins that are intermediate between two styles, or whatever else seems related.
Now that is a coin! I love hybrid types and that coin takes the cake. Another specimen was auctioned off a while ago by Album. I wish I had known earlier as I really like the design...
If it’s a hybrid, one would like to know the reverse of the Arab-Sasanian type. Does the Gyselen book help?
Good question! First, let me say that I don't yet have Gyselen's book, I have ordered a copy and it should arrive soon. (Yes, I know- buy the book before the coin. So far I've been cataloguing Arab-Sasanian coins based on the text-only descriptions in Album, which worked for a while but I think it's time for me to get more serious about it.) My current understanding is that the OP coin obverse is not actually part of the main Arab-Sasanian bronze series, which as I mentioned in the first post seems to have ended around 720 AD and been replaced by "post-reform" bronzes. Of course, early post-reform bronzes feature various pictorial types, including animals, so my current guess is that this was a novel design issued (for whatever reason) independently of earlier designs. (It seems unlikely to me that an old obverse die would still be around, ready for use, after three decades.) This is just my speculation, and if I learn otherwise from Gyselen's book I will be happy to update this thread. Arab-Sasanian bronze coins are definitely scarce, and high-grade specimens rare. It's definitely a niche area of collecting. I've managed to find a couple of nice pieces over the years; I've shared these before, but this is a good place to repost them:
Wow, @Parthicus, those are great. It's fascinating how the early Arab series (along with the later Turkmen issues) have no compunction using figurative devices. Regarding the mythological beasts, they didn't strike me (veeeery impressionistically) as being likely to perpetuate anything in Sasanian imagery. It would (/will, I hope, thanks to you) be cool to find out how much Gyselens has to say about this.
Here is another example of Sasanian imagery in a later context from my (former) collection of early Islamic copper. The Tahirids were a Persian family in the service of the 'Abbasids, effectively independent rulers in the East. There was always tension between Persian converts in the East and the Arabs in the West. This tension was one of the factors behind the 'Abbasid Revolution which had overthrown the Umayyads in 750. As the first Persian dynasty to assert itself within the Arab Islamic empire, I think the resurrection of Sasanian imagery on this coin is no coincidence. This issue is the latest known example of a Sasanian coin type in greater Iran. 'Abbasids/ Tahirids, Talha ibn Tahir, AH 207-213/ AD 822-828, AE fals (1.97gm) also citing the heir 'Abd Allah al-Tahiri as local governor. Bust (Afghanistan) mint, dated AH 209. The obverse has the first half of the Kalima at center with mint and date formula in margin. The legend in the reverse margin begins with the second half of the Kalima and continues "ordered by the amir Talha, from the hands of 'Abd Allah". Album 1394 (RR).
What a get, I have two Arab/Sassanians for type, yours is a very historic piece and obviously circulated for a long time. Cheers.
Well, I finally received the Gyselen book. I should clarify that I have the First Edition (published in 2000). There is a Second Edition, which apparently adds a number of additional types, but I haven't obtained that yet. Anyway, my OP coin is listed as Type 60, although no mint city is given as that part of the legend was not legible on the specimens known to Gyselen at the time. She does note that one specimen of this type was discovered in excavations at Naqsh-i Rustam (which is not far from Shiraz). Interestingly, Types 31, 32, and 33 are a series of three types that are essentially identical to each other except for their dates of 113, 114, and 119 AH. The obverse of these coins features a Sasanian-style bust and a legend in Pahlavi that is mostly illegible but includes the word "perozih" (victory). The reverses feature three central lines of Arabic giving the second half of the kalima "muhammad rasul allah" (Muhammad is the Prophet of God), with an Arabic inscription in the margin in the normal format giving mint (Jaiy) and date. This doesn't directly relate to my OP coin, but it does make it seem like less of an oddball- another city, some years earlier, also issued coins fusing a Sasanian bust with a post-reform-style reverse.
...Well, on the other hand, it's vicariously cool to see you guys getting in on what still looks this close to the ground floor, regarding the series (plural).
