ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muntasir, AH 247-248 / AD 861-862. Dinar (Gold, 18.5 mm, 4.11 g, 9 h), citing al-Muntasir billah, Surra man Ra'a (Samarra), AH 248 = AD 862/3. Album 231. Bernardi 159Jc. Very rare. Flan bent and straightened and with a scrape on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.


Al-Muntasir was a son of al-Mutawakkil and a Greek slave concubine named Hubshiyya who organized the assassination of his father by members of the Turkish guard after al-Mutawakkil appointed a younger brother, al-Mu'tazz, as his successor. After the murder of their father, al-Mutawakkil had al-Mu'tazz renounce his rights to the throne. However, his victory proved to be short-lived, as he died under mysterious circumstances shortly thereafter