Zengid Atabegs of Sinjar. AE dirham (21 mm). Sinjar mint. 'Imad al-Din Zengi II (1170-1197 CE). Obverse: Double-headed eagle, inscription on breast (heavily worn) naming the Abbasid caliph "al-Imam al-Nasir Ahmad", inscription along margin giving mint and date (mostly off flan). Reverse: Reverse: inscription in six lines (partly off flan) listing name and titles of the ruler, tamghas to right and left: "ibn Zengi al-Malik al-'alim al-'adil 'Imad al-Dunya wa al-Din Zengi ibn Mawdud". Spengler/Sayles 79, Album 1879.2. This coin: Purchased from Educational Coin Company at Baltimore Whitman Numismatic Expo, November 2024. Sinjar was a city in northern Mesopotamia, important mainly for its position on the main route of approach to Mosul. It was captured from the Seljuqs by 'Imad al-Din Zengi I of Mosul in 1127, and passed to his son Qutb al-Din Mawdud. Mawdud died in 1170, and Sinjar was assigned as an independent kingdom under Mawdud's son 'Imad al-Din Zengi II, while the main throne at Mosul went to another son. Sinjar was a prosperous city, due mainly to its position along the trade route, but little of note seems to have happened there. 'Imad al-Din Zengi II reigned for 28 years and was succeeded by his son. The dynasty ended in 1220, when the city was captured by the expanding Ayyubid empire. I bought this coin mainly because of the interesting figural type of the double-headed eagle, which appears on several different Turkoman bronze issues as well as various other coins in history, and of course is famous in European heraldry as well. This was sold unattributed to ruler, simply as part of a "pick your Zengid bronze coin" at $19 each. This is a good example of how you can often find interesting coins for sale cheaply if you are willing to do your own research to identify exact types. Please post your related coins.
Oh, now that's neat. Very cool. A double-headed eagle long before the nation of Russia came along! For 19 bucks, I'd have bought that for my Holey Coin Hat.
