ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mu'tadid, AH 279-289 / AD 892-902. Dirham (Silver, 23 mm, 2.81 g, 10 h), citing the caliph al-Mu'tadid billah. al-Mawsil, AH 2[8]8 = 900/1. Album -. Unique and of great historical interest. Somewhat crystallized and with areas of weakness, otherwise, very fine.


In the year 288 AH, the city of al-Mawsil was in turmoil and fiercely contested between different tribes fighting each other. Unfortunately, the name in the third line of the inner legend on the reverse of this coin is illegible, leaving the identity of the head of the clan who struck the issue in the dark. The appearance of al-Mu'tamid's name in the fourth line, on the other hand, shows that the contestant pledged public allegiance to the caliph in an attempt to legitimate his own claim to power. The turmoil eventually ended five years later, when Abu'l-Hayja' Abdallah, a member of one those families, the Hamdanids, was appointed governor of Mosul by the Abbasid caliph al-Muktafi.