ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu'awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan, AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Fals (Bronze, 21 mm, 5.25 g, 7 h), Arab-Byzantine type, Dimashq. Imperial figure standing facing, holding long cross in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left; in left field, falcon standing right on falcon perch; in right field, ΔΑ[ΜΑCKOC] clockwise to right.
Rev. Large M in center; above, monogram; below, officina mark of inverted crescent with short line below; around Arabic legend reading 'darb dimashq ja'iz' ('current issue [of] Dimashq'). Goodwin&Gyselen p. 228, 60. Attractive earthen highlights. Area of weakness on the obverse
, otherwise, very fine.
Ex Leu Web Auction 7, 23 February 2019, 1658 and from a collection of Arab-Byzantine and Crusader coins, formed in the 1990s.
Falconry played an important role within the Umayyad culture: it was a favorite pastime of the ruling elite and a symbol of high status, and it is said that Yazid I ibn Mu'awiya, the son and successor of Mu'awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan, even had separate houses built for his beloved falcons.
