ISLAMIC, Time of the Rashidun. Pseudo-Byzantine types. Fals (Bronze, 25 mm, 6.28 g, 8 h), Type D, uncertain mint, AH 18-49 / AD 640-670. Stylized imperial figure standing facing, wearing short flared tunic, holding long cross with his right hand and placing his left on hip; to right, globus cruciger set on an uncertain object; in lower right field, pellet; in upper left field, crescent (?). Rev. Large m between A / N / N / O and X / III / O; above, cross; in exergue, IOK. Cf. Goodwin&Gyselen, p. 48 and Goodwin, Khalili Collection, p. 34 (for Type D). Very rare. Earthen deposits, otherwise, very fine.


T. Goodwin noted, in correspondence with this cataloguer, that this rare issue is larger and heavier than most Pseudo-Byzantine coins and that all examples known to him are struck on similarly oval flans. By copying - albeit clumsily - an imperial figure with a typical short flared tunic and the distinctive hand-on-hip feature on the obverse, the type apparently imitates a Class 5 follis of Heraclius. It therefore belongs to Goodwin's Type D, but the crude style and size mark it as a separate variety, struck in a minor and perhaps even illegal mint. We kindly thank T. Goodwin for his valuable contributions to the discussion of this issue.