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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2917786, member: 81887&quot;]Another coin from the recent Baltimore show:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]705836[/ATTACH] </p><p>Arab-Sasanian, Bukhara.&nbsp; Billon drachm.&nbsp; In the name of Caliph Al-Mahdi (158-169 AH/775-785 AD).&nbsp; Obverse: Bust right, in front inscription in Sogdian &quot;Buh&#039;ar Hub K&#039;ay&quot; (Great Lord of Bukhara), behind inscription in Arabic &quot;Al-Mahdi&quot;.&nbsp; Reverse: Sasanian-style fire altar with two attendants, bust of Ahura Mazda in altar/flames.&nbsp; Album 94, Mitchiner World of Islam 295.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bukhara (located in what is now Uzbekistan) was founded around the sixth century BC and became an important trading center on the Silk Road.&nbsp; In the sixth century AD the city began minting imitations of Sasanian drachms, based on the type of Vahran V (420-438 AD) which featured the bust of the god Ahura Mazda in the flames (and sometimes as part of the fire altar, depending on the skill of the engraver).&nbsp; These early coins looked much like the coin above, except without the Arabic inscription, merely the Sogdian mention of a general &quot;Great Lord of Bukhara&quot;.&nbsp; During the time of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mahdi the caliph&#039;s name was added to the design.&nbsp; The reason for this is unclear (the city apparently had already come under control of the Caliphate years earlier), but the coinage issued in Al-Mahdi&#039;s name was abundant, as this type is common today.&nbsp; There are also much rarer coins in the same style in the names of Muhammad (possibly issued before 775 AD) and the later caliphs Harun Al-Rashid (786-809 AD) and Al-Amin (809-813 AD).&nbsp; Standard Abbasid silver coinage (featuring only Arabic inscriptions, with no pictorial elements) started at Bukhara in 809 AD.&nbsp; The silver content of the Al-Mahdi coins of Bukhara varies greatly, from high-purity silver to billon with more copper than silver.&nbsp; These coins are fairly common today; I paid $25 for this example from The Time Machine.&nbsp; Please post any relevant coins you have.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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