ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Mardin). Najm al-Din Alpi, AH 547-572 / AD 1152-1176. Dirham (Bronze, 29 mm, 11.92 g, 1 h). Diademed head of Antiochos VII to right, ‘Najm al-Dīn’ on the neck. Rev. In the field and around, ‘malik al-umarā / Abuʾl-Muẓaffar / Alpī ibn / Timirtāsh ibn / Īl Ghāzī / ibn Urtuq’ (‘King of the rulers, Abuʾl-Muzaffar Alpi, son of Timirtash, son of Il Ghazi, son of Urtuq’ in Arabic). Album 1827.2. Deposits and with some scratches, otherwise, very fine.



The head on the obverse of this issue was copied from tetradrachms of the Seleukid King Antiochos VII (138-129 BC), who lived almost 1300 years before Najm al-Din Alpi. Time-wise, this is the equivalent of the portrait of the Byzantine emperor Leo III (717-741) appearing on a modern coin!