I'm slowly working through my recent auction wins, as I get the time to photograph ten and properly write them up. At this rate, by the time I finish this batch I will have won some more. Anyway, here's a win from the most recent Stephen Album auction: Arab-Sasanian, Eastern Sistan series. AR drachm (3.43 g). Anonymous Khusro type, dated AH 98 (716/7 AD). Obverse: Slightly crude copy of Sasanian drachm of Khusro II including his name in Pahlavi script; in margin, Arabic text "bismillah rabbi" ("in the name of God, the Lord"). Reverse: Standard Khusro II reverse type, to right Pahlavi mintmark SK (Sakastan), to left date 98 [AH] in Pahlavi. Album 77, cf. Mitchiner WoI 296. Stephen Album Auction 30, lot 159. As most of you already know, the first Islamic silver coins closely copied drachms of the Sasanian Persian empire they had just conquered, usually with the addition of short legends in Arabic giving a brief Muslim religious quote and/or the name of a governor. In the year 79 AH (698 AD), a currency reform led to the first "post-reform" silver dirhams being struck. The new dirhams had a standardized format of a set religious text (the Kalima) in the center, with inscriptions around the edges giving the date and place of minting. These dirhams quickly became the only silver coins struck in most of the caliphate, but some areas around the edges took longer to stop issuing Sasanian-based coins. Tabaristan, along the Caspian Sea, was still issuing Sasanian-style half-drachms until the 790s AD, and "Arab-Bukharan" coins in the name of the caliph Al-Mahdi (775-785 AD) are famous even to casual collectors of Islamic coins. Less well-known are the drachms struck in Sistan from the 690s to 780s AD. Sistan (also called Sakastan and Sijistan) was a province on the eastern frontier of the Sasanian empire, which covered parts of what is now eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan, and western Pakistan. The last Sasanian king, Yazdegard III, fled from the advancing Muslim armies to this province, where he was eventually killed in 651 AD, and (with a couple of brief rebellions) the province was soon absorbed into the Rashidun, and then the succeeding Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. It is not known for certain why Arab-Sasanian coins continued to be struck so late in Sistan; maybe it was because the coins were more accepted in trade, especially with tribes outside the Muslim Caliphate who were very used to Sasanian silver coins and may have taken a long time to trust those weird, new image-less coins. This coin has a somewhat degraded but still recognizable Sasanian design; later issues in the series have an almost cartoonish quality. (The later issues are also quite rare, I am still trying to acquire one.) This specimen has a few areas of corrosion, but it is still an interesting relic of the early Islamic world. Please post your related coins.
Here is an Arab-Sasanian coin of Ubei Dalliah Ibn Zaid (55-67 AH) 33 mm. 4.16 grams. 3:00 die axis. Struck year 61 = 680/681 AD, AA\l-Basrah mint (in Iraq) BMC 85. Ashmolean I 83, plate 6. ex Malter auction XXVII (June 1984) lot 177.
Cool coin! So, when did the Sasanian Persian empire get conquered? What I am wondering (as I'm looking to start collecting Sasanian coins) when is a good starting point and when is the official end of the Sasanian and beginning of the Islamic empires? Or is it messy like the end of Roman empirial and beginning of the Byzantine coinage?
Nice coin and an interesting writeup... you've inspired me to look for a late Sistan example! Ziyad b. Abu Sufyan (died 673), AH 50 = 670-71. 2 turco-hephthalite countermarks on obv.
The accepted end of the Sasanian period is pretty straightforward: 651 AD, with the death of Yazdegard III. The first Arab-Sasanian silver coins started at about that time, although the dating of these is not as straightforward- some early issues had a frozen date, and it's not always clear if the date is supposed to be in the Islamic calendar or if it's a Yazdegard regnal-era date. The start of the Sasanians is with Ardashir I (c.224 AD- there's a couple of years uncertainty on which year he became shahenshah), though if you're ambitious (and have lots of spare cash) you may start with the rare issues of him as Ardashir V of the Parthian vassal state of Persis. Now, the transition from Byzantine to Arab-Byzantine bronzes... that's messy. This was discussed in a thread not long ago, which I'm sure someone will post a link to soon.
Awesome! Thanks for the pionter, education and the great post! Yeah, even the non Ardashir V coins are pricEE. So I may have to find a different starting point... The artistry on these coins is just so appealing and "speaks" too me (and the silver makes it alluring). I'll just have to keep watch on the auctions for one I'd be proud to show off, even if it's a common ruler and work my way from there. Thanks for adding that link @Severus Alexander. Now that is a rabbit hole full of mystery and conjecture. I'll keep my hand out of there for now so as not to get bitten (though I did buy a Constans ii in FR's last coin auction).
Wow, great Eastern Sistan @Parthicus ! I have not seen many of those. I greatly envoy your countermarked Ziyad, @Severus Alexander . I think Ziyad is the most interesting of the folks who struck these. Here is a coin issued by Ziyad's son that I wish I could show you in person: 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. Basra, AH 59 (AD 678), AR drachm, 32mm Obv: Crowned bust right, Arabic inscription in field Rev: Two attendants beside fire altar Walker 88, Album 12 cf. Pre-Reform coinage » Arab-Sasanian » Main series, silver » al-Basra (BCRA) Wikipedia: Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
Looks like a difficult-to-photograph beauty, Ed! I'd love to have one of Ziyad's son, who was another very important figure... definitely on the want list. Here are my notes on Ziyad: Ziyad was also called 'ibn Abih' (son of his father) because his parentage was uncertain. If his father was indeed Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, then he descended from a leader of the Quraysh in Mecca, who opposed Muhammad until a few years before the latter's death, when it became clear that the Islamic faction would triumph. After Muhammad's conquest of Mecca, Abu Sufyan fought as an Islamic general. (Presumably he converted to Islam.) His son, Mu'awiyah, eventually won a civil war and established the Umayyad caliphate. [Me: this parentage seems unlikely. Ziyad only began using the name b. Abu Sufyan after reconciling with Mu'awiyah, who accepted him as a "brother.") Ziyad, was born in AH 1 and converted under the first Caliph, Abu Bakr (632-34). He initially fought to suppress rebels under 'Ali, but with the success of the Umayyads was persuaded to switch sides and became governor of Basra. He subsequently suppressed an Aliid rebellion in Kufa. and added that city to his governorship. On this coin: This (AH50) is the year in which Ziyad suppressed the Aliid rebellion in Kufa and added that city to his governorship. In 671, Ziyad sent 50,000 troops to Merv, which formed the nucleus of Islamic Khorasan, the basis for the eventual subjection of territories in central Asia. It is plausible that the turco-hephthalite countermarks resulted from the coin's circulation in this area after being taken near there by Ziyad's troops.
@Parthicus amazing coin congrats! I also eventually got the coin that I was dreaming to have with a great price in last CNG auction. It is a beautiful Isfahan mint of Al-Ma'mun in the honor of his heir Shia Imam Al-Rida.
