'Abbasid Caliphate. Uncertain period. Fals (Bronze, 22 mm, 2.87 g, 10 h), citing the governor Aḥmad ibn Hārūn, Masisa, early 3rd century AH / early 9th century AD. In three lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh ʿumila / bi-l-Maṣīṣa (‘There is no deity but God / Made / in al-Maṣīṣa’ in Arabic). Rev. In four lines: Muḥammad rasūl / Allāh mimmā amara bihi / Aḥmad bin / Hārūn (‘Muḥammad is the Messenger / of God. From what was ordered by / Aḥmad ibn / Hārūn’ in Arabic). Album 297. Extremely rare. With deposits, otherwise, very fine.



Al-Maṣīṣa (classical Mopsuestia, modern Yakapınar in Cilicia) was one of the principal fortified frontier cities of the Islamic-Byzantine border zone in south-eastern Anatolia. During the Abbasid period it formed part of the thughūr, the militarised frontier districts that played a central role in the long struggle between the Abbasid caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. Coinage from al-Maṣīṣa is rare and historically important, reflecting the strategic and military significance of the region.

The present cast fals names Aḥmad ibn Hārūn, likely a local Abbasid governor or military administrator active during the early 3rd century AH under the caliphs al-Amīn and al-Maʾmūn. The formula mimmā amara bihi (‘from what was ordered by’) emphasizes official administrative authority and is characteristic of certain provincial Abbasid bronze issues.