'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid, AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. Drachm (Silver, 25 mm, 2.77 g, 5 h), Arab-Bukharan type, ʿAlī [ibn ʿĪsā ibn Māhān], governor of Khurasan (AH 187-191 / AD 803-807), Samarqand. Within a dotted circle, stylized Sasanian-style crowned bust to right imitating the Sasanian king Bahrām V; citing Sulaymān ibn Ḥamīd al-Azdī, governor of Samarqand, around, ‘bism Allāh Muḥammad rasūl Allāh Muḥammadiyya mimmā amara bihī al-amīr ʿAlī Sulaymān li-llāh’ (‘In the name of Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Muhammadiyya. From that ordered by Amir ʿAli. Sulayman. For Allah’ in Arabic). Rev. Stylized fire altar flanked by two attendants; stylized bust of Ahura Mazdā to right in flames. Bates 2017. Album 96. Rare and beautifully toned. A small die fault on the reverse and minor flan faults on the edge, otherwise, very fine.


Here ‘Muhammadiyya’ is not a mint name, but an adjective defining this coin as equivalent to the issues of al-Mahdi Muhammad, governor of Khurasan (AH 141-155 / AD 758-772,ʿAbbāsid caliph: AH 158-169 / AD 775-785.