Mongols. Ilkhanids. Arghun, AH 683-690 / AD 1284-1291. Dirham (Silver, 22 mm, 2.40 g, 2 h), with Uyghur legends and tamgha, mint illegible, date illegible. Central field, in three lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh Muḥammad / rasūl Allāh (‘There is no deity but God / Muhammad is the Messenger of God’ in Arabic). Margin: mint and date formula illegible. Rev. Three stars above. In five lines, in Uyghur: Qaγanu / nägü ber / Arghun-u / däletkägülük sen / Arghūn (‘Struck by Arghun under the authority of the Khan. Arghun’ in Uyghur and Arabic). In field, double-trident tamgha, probably the Great Mongol tamgha associated with Möngke Khan and his descendants. Album 2146. Very rare. Minor scratches, some deposits and a flan fault on the edge, otherwise, very fine.


The double-trident tamgha is known on issues of Alinjaq and Isfahan, but the present coin lacks the square cartouche normally associated with those mints, making this coin a curious specimen.