'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Mahdi, AH 158-169 / AD 775-785. Fals (Bronze, 22 mm, 3.90 g, 11 h), citing the governor Yazīd ibn Usayd, governor of Arminiya (Armenia), Barda’a (Partav), AH 159 = AD 775/6. Central field, in three lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate’ in Arabic). Star below. Margin: mimmā amara bihī al-amīr Yazīd ibn Usayd aʿazza Allāh naṣrahu (‘From what was ordered by the amir Yazīd ibn Usayd, may God strengthen his victory’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in three lines: Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh (‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’ in Arabic). Star below. Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-fals bi-Bardaʿa sanat tisʿ wa-khamsīn wa-miʾa (‘In the name of God, this fals was struck at Bardaʿa in the year one hundred and fifty-nine’ in Arabic). Album 315. ICV 487. Lavoix 1557. Lowick/Savage 400. Shamma p. 230, 6. Vardanyan 248. Zeno 128283. Rare, with a clear mint and date. Some deposits and minor scratches, otherwise, very fine.


Yazīd ibn Usayd al-Sulamī was one of the principal Abbasid governors of Arminiya and the Caucasian provinces in the early Abbasid period. His name on this issue identifies the coin as part of the provincial administrative copper coinage struck under Abbasid authority in the southern Caucasus.

Bardaʿa was one of the most important cities of Arrān and served as a major political and commercial center in the Caucasus.