ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Drachm (Silver, 28 mm, 2.91 g, 3 h), Arab-Sasanian type. Cgovernor Muqātil ibn Mismaʿ (AH 72-73 = 691-692), BYŠ (Bishapur), AH 73 = 692. Draped bust resembling Khosrau II to right, wearing elaborate mural crown; behind head, ‘GDE ʾp̄zwt'’ (‘[may his] glory increase’ in Pahlavi); before head, ‘mwkʾtl / Y msmʾʾn’ (‘Muqātil ibn Mismaʿ’ in Pahlavi); in outer margin, ‘bism Allāh – bakriya’ (‘In the name of Allah; of the Bakr tribe’ in Arabic). Rev. Fire altar with ribbons, flanked by two attendants; above altar, star and crescent; to left, date in Pahlavi; to right, BYŠ (abbreviation for the name of the mint in Pahlavi). Album 22. Zeno-201059 (this coin). Very rare. Clipped and with minor deposits, otherwise, about very fine.


The word ‘bakriya’ in the obverse margin refers to the famous Bakr ibn Wāʾil tribe. This is the only known reference to an Arab tribe on an early Islamic coin.