Persia (Post-Mongol). Zands. Muhammad Karim Khan, AH 1164-1193 / AD 1751-1779. Abbasi (Silver, 25 mm, 4.67 g, 11 h), type C, Rikab (royal camp), AH 1174 = AD 1760/1. Couplet: shud āftāb-u māh zar-u sīm dar jahān / az sikkih-yi imām-i bi-ḥaqq ṣāḥib al-zamān (‘Gold and silver have become like the sun and moon in the world / from the coin of the [twelfth] Imam, the rightful Lord of the Age’ in Persian). Rev. In three lines: yā Karīm / zarb-i zarrābkhānih-yi Rikāb. Dated 1174 at the bottom. Album 2800. Rare, well struck and lightly toned. Some deposits, otherwise, extremely fine.



The term Rikāb (ركاب) literally means ‘stirrup’, but in a numismatic and administrative context it refers to the royal camp or the immediate presence of the ruler. Coins struck at the rikāb were therefore issued from a mobile or court mint accompanying the ruler, often during military campaigns or periods of movement.

A further notable feature is that the two horizontal dividers on the reverse are composed of repeated ب / bāʾ letter forms, employed as a calligraphic device to structure and visually balance the inscription.