ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, AH 41-60 / AD 661-680. Drachm (Silver, 30 mm, 3.90 g, 4 h), Arab-Sasanian type, DA (Darabgird), AH 43 = AD 663/4. Draped bust resembling Khosrau II to right, wearing an elaborate mural crown; behind head, ‘GDE / ʾp̄zwt'’ (‘[may his] glory increase’ in Pahlavi); before head, ‘mʾʾwyʾ ʾmyl / Y wlwyšnykʾn’ (‘Muʿawiya, Commander of the Believers’ in Pahlavi); in the outer margin, ‘bism Allāh’ (‘In the name of Allah’ in Arabic).
Rev. Fire altar with ribbons, flanked by two attendants; above altar, crescent and star; to left, date in Pahlavi; to right, DA (abbreviation for the name of the mint in Pahlavi). Album 14. Rare. Areas of weakness and with some deposits, scratches, and staining
, otherwise, about extremely fine.
From a Canadian collection.
This interesting type is the earliest issue to cite a caliph by name and the only known type to cite Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the famous founder of the Umayyad dynasty.
