Arab-Sasanian. No mint or date. AE pashiz (12 mm, 0.73 g). Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Umayyad governor of Iraq (75-95 AH/ 694-713 AD). Obverse: Sassanian-Style bust right, behind bust Pahlavi inscription "xvarrah abzud" (May [his] glory increase), in front Arabic inscription "al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf" , radial Arabic inscription "Bismillah la ilah illa Allah wahdahu Muhammad rasul Allah" (In the Name of God, there is no God but God, Muhammad is His Prophet). Reverse: Standing "Orans" (praying) figure with enlarged hand, Pahlavi inscription behind and in front "peroz bavad hacac" (May he be victorious, al-Hajjaj). Album B37, Gyselen 79. This coin: Stephen Album Auction 39, lot 2013 (January 21-25, 2021). The earliest Islamic coin issues, as I've discussed before, copied the coins of their defeated Byzantine and Sasanian foes. In the formerly Sasanian territories, silver drachms were near-identical copies of the Sasanian coins with just the legends changed, but copper coinage was a more locally-managed affair, and there were many different designs used. The reverse of this coins features what is known as an "orans" figure, an artistic style showing a figure praying with hands upraised, often with the hands exaggerated for emphasis. Orans figures are known from early Christian and from Sasanian art, but the use of such a figure in a Muslim context is unusual. Perhaps the issuer (al-Hajjaj) wanted to emphasize his piety, so in addition to the religious inscription he also used this visual shorthand. Also noteworthy in the design, the outer inscription on the obverse is done radially. Here is a silver dirham of al-Hajjaj (photo from Wikipedia) which shows the radial inscription more clearly: This is a very unusual way of writing Arabic, and I have been unable to find an explanation for why al-Hajjaj chose it on his coins. Al-Hajjaj was the Umayyad governor of Iraq province from 75 to 95 AH (694-713 AD). At the time, the governorship of Iraq (lower Mesopotamia) also included former Sasanian Persia and further east, so al-Hajjaj's domain was nearly half of the area of the Caliphate. Al-Hajjaj proved a very loyal and effective agent of the Umayyads. He defeated a major uprising centered around Basra and Kufa, and he founded the city of Wasit, which became the most prolific mint for Umayyad dirhams. During al-Hajjaj's governorship, he switched from issuing Arab-Sasanian style silver (shown above) to the "post-reform" style featuring only Arabic inscriptions with no figural designs (his last Arab-Sasanian drachms are dated AH 81), though Arab-Sasanian coppers continued in the region until about AH 100, a few years after his death. In addition to its historical interest, this is also quite a rare coin. Album lists its rarity as "RRR" (the highest level in his Handbook), while Gyselen (at least in the 1st edition of 2000) lists only 2 known examples of this type. Even with the face of the Orans figure missing, I was still quite happy to acquire this coin. Please post any coins that may be relevant.
@Parthicus, thanks lots for the OP, replete with two pretty amazing coins!!! I know next to nothing about the Islamic transitional coins from either of the former series, but imitative and transitional coins are endlessly fascinating. It was great to get some solid detail on this particular facet of them. The bilingual and differently oriented legends are terrific. All I have are regular Sasanian dirhams; several without pics, one very recently posted, and one in an auction that isn't over yet! But thanks again, anyway. Hope you'll attract better from other folks here.
I've posted this coin before but hopefully it's interesting enough for an encore. The Tahirids were a Persian family in the service of the 'Abbasids and were 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 suspect 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 (AD 824). 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).
Ever since I saw this type it's been on my want list, but they don't come up very often. I was excited to see three of them in this auction. I suspect we both got beat out on the first one, you snagged #2 (sorry, I bid you up on it), and I got #3. I think we both got pretty good deals on this rare and interesting item! I like how it illustrates the gradual development of Islamic doctrine - it wouldn't be long before an illustration of a praying Muslim (if that's what this depicts) would be considered sacrilege.
Equally curious, most of the lines of the radial inscription are broken mid-word rather than between words. That noted, it does make for an attractive design!.
