HUNGARY. Béla III, 1172-1196. Rézpénz (Bronze, 23 mm, 1.83 g, 12 h). Pseudo-Kufic legend in inner field and outer margin. Rev. Pseudo-Kufic legend in inner field and outer margin. Huszár 73. Réthy 101-103. A very attractive example of this unusual issue. Extremely fine.

When the body of Bela III and his wife Agnes of Antiocha were found in 1848, among the artifacts discovered in their grave was a beautiful ring with the Kufic inscription 'Abdallah ibn Muhammad' ('Abdallah son of Muhammad' in Kufic). This fascinating personal jewelry attests the King's fondness for Islamic art, as do his coins with Pseudo-Kufic legends. The prototype for the present issue was first identified by P. T. Nagy: it is a dinar struck by the ruler of Murcia in al-Andalus, 'Abdallah ibn 'Iyad (AH 540-543 = AD 1145-1147) (Cf. P. T. Nagy: 'Islamic” Artifacts in Hungary from the Reign of Bela III (1172-1196): Two Case Studies', in: Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU 22 (2016), p. 55)