ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Mu'awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan, AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Fals (Bronze, 23 mm, 4.26 g, 6 h), Arab-Byzantine type, Hims. Imperial bust facing, wearing diadem surmounted by cross, paludamentum and cuirass, holding globus cruciger in his right hand; around, KAΛON ('good' in Greek).
Rev. Large m between E/M/I-C/H/C; above, eight-pointed star between wavy lines; in exergue 'tayyib' ('good' in Kufic). DOCAB -. Goodwin, Khalili Collection -. Goodwin&Gyselen -. Leu Web Auction 7 (2019), 1661 var. (E/M/H/C/I/C). SICA, I -. Extremely rare. Minor deposits
, otherwise, very fine.
From the collection of Dr. D. Löer and the Hon. Robert Erskine Collection, Noonans E-Auction 253, 13 April 2022, 1036 (with collector's ticket).
T. Goodwin noted, in correspondence with this cataloguer, that the bust type with just 'KAΛON' is known to him from two obverse dies and was first published by A. Oddy in Revue Numismatique 29 (1987), p. 194-197 and Plate XII. We kindly thank T. Goodwin for his valuable contributions to the discussion of this important issue.
