ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Drachm (Silver, 30 mm, 3.90 g, 4 h), Arab-Sasanian type, DA (Darabgird), AH 43 = AD 663/4. Draped bust resembling Khosrau II to right, wearing an elaborate mural crown; behind head, ‘GDE / ʾp̄zwt'’ (‘[may his] glory increase’ in Pahlavi); before head, ‘mʾʾwyʾ ʾmyl / Y wlwyšnykʾn’ (‘Muʿawiya, Commander of the Believers’ in Pahlavi); in the outer margin, ‘bism Allāh’ (‘In the name of Allah’ in Arabic). Rev. Fire altar with ribbons, flanked by two attendants; above altar, crescent and star; to left, date in Pahlavi; to right, DA (abbreviation for the name of the mint in Pahlavi). Album 14. Rare. Areas of weakness and with some deposits, scratches, and staining, otherwise, about extremely fine.



This interesting type is the earliest issue to cite a caliph by name and the only known type to cite Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the famous founder of the Umayyad dynasty.