Posted 10/19/2009 09:57 am
These "Islamic figural bronzes" are unique among the Islamic series for their use of images, something normally frowned upon by Muslim rulers. Most of the dynasties that issued them were centred in what is now Iraq, from around the time 1100-1300 AD. The denomination is usually called a "bronze dirham". They're much easier to search for in the Zeno database and in my reprint of Marsden, because I can simply match pictures rather than have to actually translate the Arabic words. 
#1 is a coin of Qutb al-Din Muhammad, ruler of the branch of the Zangid dynasty based at Sinjar, a city now in northeastern Iraq. Here's a whole bunch of examples on zeno.ru. The coins are dated, but I think the datye on yours is illegible. They were struck from AH 595 to 599 (AD 1199-1203).
#2 is a coin from the same general location, but the next dynasty: the Ayyubids of Mayyafariqin, Sinjar, Harran & Khilat, a ruler by the name of al-Ashraf Muzaffar al-Din Musa, who ruled those cities from AH 607-617 (AD 1211 to 1219). Examples on zeno can be found here.
#3 is a little harder to track down, because this particular design was used by several rulers of the period. I think it's of the Zangid ruler of Mosul (a city now the capital of Kurdish Iraq) by the name of Sayf al-Din Ghazi II, who ruled from AH 564 to 576 (= AD 1169-1180). Examples can be found here.
#1 is a coin of Qutb al-Din Muhammad, ruler of the branch of the Zangid dynasty based at Sinjar, a city now in northeastern Iraq. Here's a whole bunch of examples on zeno.ru. The coins are dated, but I think the datye on yours is illegible. They were struck from AH 595 to 599 (AD 1199-1203).
#2 is a coin from the same general location, but the next dynasty: the Ayyubids of Mayyafariqin, Sinjar, Harran & Khilat, a ruler by the name of al-Ashraf Muzaffar al-Din Musa, who ruled those cities from AH 607-617 (AD 1211 to 1219). Examples on zeno can be found here.
#3 is a little harder to track down, because this particular design was used by several rulers of the period. I think it's of the Zangid ruler of Mosul (a city now the capital of Kurdish Iraq) by the name of Sayf al-Din Ghazi II, who ruled from AH 564 to 576 (= AD 1169-1180). Examples can be found here.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
