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 Replies: 9 / Views: 3,636 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
I had originally intended to include these at the end of my post on Indo-Sassanian coinage, but as these are neither Indian nor related to the Gadhaiya Paisa in any way shape or form, I figure they deserve a separate topic. These coins (usually called "drachms" but more appropriately are probably dirhams) hail from present-day Kazakhstan and themselves comprise a fascinatingly complex series, most of which is outside of my price range. They originated from local copies of Varhran V's drachms (420-438) with Pahlavi legends being replaced with Sogdian "Bukhar Hudat" or "King of Bukhara". Fast forward to the late 8th century, and Bukhara (as well as most of Central Asia) owes allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate. There was apparently a shortage of silver dirhams in the area, and it was not logistically feasible to mint them at any of the central mints and move them. So, after some petitioning, caliph al-Mahdi (775-785) agreed to let the Bukharans mint their own. For whatever reason, they opted to revert back to their Hunnic prototypes, the result is the "Bukhar Hudat" coin type, which itself comes in a few flavors: Obv: Degraded bust of Varhran V, Arabic legend "al-Mahdi" (left) / Soghdian legend "Bukhar Hudat" (right) Rev: Attendants holding spears, flanking fire altar, head of Ahura Mazda right in flames 1. "Good" billon   2. Very low grade billon   Due to the huge number of surviving specimens, it is probable that the al-Mahdi type became frozen for decades or even centuries after the caliph's 10 year reign. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6130 Posts |
Here is a much scarcer variety without the Sogdian legend, minted in the name of Abbasid caliph al-Amin (809-813).   Note the Arabic legend all the way around, and the slightly sloppier style here. These still are not "rare" coins, but sellers usually have 50-100 al-Mahdi types per 1 al-Amin. |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5174 Posts |
Nice series! I was under the impression (based on Zeno) that there were a lot more varieties though...
The 8th century AD spot in my "at least one from each century" set is a Bukhar Hudat, vaguely resembling your "good billon" variety (but a lot more worn); I'll try to post it eventually (maybe in this thread).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Great new series, Steve. I've liked this type since I first came upon it years back on Tom Mallon's site. Interesting to see yet another take on the fire altar and attendants theme. Thanks for sharing...good stuff!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Thanks to you both. Yes, there are a LOT of varieties in this series, but most are so rare that they only come up for sale a couple times a year. Here is the Zeno parent directory for a little browsing fun: https://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=802Among the less common varieties, the most popular seems to be the "Mug" type (over 30mm diameter) which tends to run $150-300, compared to $1-15 for run of the mill al-Mahdi types. Anyway, just for fun, here is a more recent purchase, a regular dirham of al-Madhi:   |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
A really interesting series. I love these Eastern types, but you have really have gone way beyond what I collect. Thanks for posting these.
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
I agree ...really nice coins especially the first one lovely detail  Whats the size and weight? Thanks forma sharing. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
701 Posts |
Way over my head Steve but ALWAYS an interesting read. Thanks for sharing |
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Moderator
United States
34418 Posts |
@finn, partly inspired by this thread, I picked up one of the al-Amin Dirhams for myself the other day. According to a thread over in world of coins, Stephen Album has modified his thinking about A-96 and now dates these coins to al-Amin as the Governor of Khorasan rather than as the Caliph. That moves the time frame for minting to 796 to 801 AD as opposed to being solidly in the early 9th Century.   Added: I also wanted to include the obv inscription from that helpful WoC thread: Quote:
bism allah Muhammad rasul Allah muhammadiyya mimma amara bihi al-amin 'ala [yaday] sulayman lillah "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
Edited by Spence
10/13/2018 8:10 pm
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Nice one Dave, I need to get one of these.
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Replies: 9 / Views: 3,636 |
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Posted 07/30/2017 10:38 pm
