ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu'awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan, AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Drachm (Silver, 31 mm, 3.95 g, 4 h), Arab-Sasanian type, citing governor Abdallah ibm Amir Kurayz (AH 41-45 = AD 661-664), DA (Darabjird), AH 41 = AD 661. Draped bust resembling Khosrau II to right, wearing elaborate mural crown; behind head, AFZUT GDH ('may his kingship increase' in Pahlawi); before head, APDWLA Y AMWRAN ('Abd Allah ibn Amir' in Pahlawi); in outer margin, 'bism Allah' ('In the name of Allah') and three pellets to left and right of one star-in-crescent.
Rev. Fire altar with ribbons flanked by two attendants; in upper field to left, star; in upper field to right, crescent; to left, date in Pahlawi; to right, DA (name of the mint in Pahlawi). Album 6. SICA I, -. Walker, Arab-Sassanian, p. 48, 70. A very attractive and beautifully toned example. Minor edge crack
, otherwise, extremely fine.
From the collection of J. Knudsen, formed from the late 1970s to the late 1990s.
Abd Allah ibn Amir ibn Kurayz was a cousin of the rightly guided caliph Uthman as well as a successful general in the fight against the last Sasanian king Yazdgard III. He was also the first Umayyad official to place his name on coins.
