ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muti', AH 334-363 / AD 946-974. Dirham (Silver, 28 mm, 3.91 g, 10 h), citing the caliph al-Muti' lillah and the Cilician Princes al-Haqu and al-Mubin, Antakiya, AH 353 = AD 964. Album 265. Rare and of great historical interest. Areas of weakness, otherwise, very fine.


Al-Muti' did not issue his own coinage, but rare dirhams such as this one bearing his name were struck by local Turkish aristocrats in Cilicia during the revolt of Turkish mercenaries against the Hamdanid commander Nasir al-Dawla ('Defender of the [Abbasid] dynasty' in Arabic) in AH 353. The hard-pressured general sought refuge in Baghdad, where he allied himself with his former opponent Ahmad ibn Buya, the cruel occupant of the 'Abbasid capital. Two years later, Hamdanid and Buyid troops under the command of the Buyid general Saymari returned to the North, where they put an end to the rebellion.