'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mansur, AH 136-158 / AD 754-775. Fals (Bronze, 22 mm, 2.52 g, 1 h), anonymous type, Yazidiyya, AH 149 = AD 766/7. Central field, in three lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate’ in Arabic). Stars above and below. Five circles in margin. Rev. Central field, in three lines: Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh (‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’ in Arabic). Stars above and below. Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-fals bi-l-Yazīdiyya sanat tisʿ wa-arbaʿīn wa-miʾa (‘In the name of God, this fals was struck at al-Yazīdiyya in the year one hundred and forty-nine’ in Arabic). Album 313K. A very rare mint. A damaged flan, deposits and areas of surface flaking, otherwise, nearly very fine.


The mint of al-Yazīdiyya has long been difficult to locate securely, but it is now generally associated with Azerbaijan or the neighbouring Caucasian region.