ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu'awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan, AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Fals (Bronze, 15x16 mm, 2.90 g, 4 h), Arab-Byzantine type, uncertain mint in Filastin. Crude imperial figure standing facing, holding globus cruciger in his left hand; in field to left, 'Muhammad' in Kufic.
Rev. Large m in center flanked by A and A; above, cross; below, 'ba'd' (part or portion in Kufic). DOCAB, 31 var. (letters on the reverse illegible). Goodwin&Gyselen, p. 54, 39 var. (I and II flanking m). SICA I, -. An apparently unpublished variety of this interesting type with the letters A - A on the reverse. Very fine.
From the collection of J. Knudsen, formed from the late 1970s to the late 1990s.
T. Goodwin noted that this coin is very similar to a type with the name of the governor 'al-Amir Sa'id'. He therefore concludes that the name 'Muhammad' on the obverse of our coin is not that of the Prophet but of a local governor. The translation of the mysterious word 'ba'd', on the other hand, remains unresolved: it perhaps stands for 'part' or 'portion', but it could also be the name of a mint of part of a personal name. We kindly thank T. Goodwin for his valuable contributions to the discussion of this issue.
