Persia (Post-Mongol). Safavids. Abu Turab Isma'il III, AH 1163-1179 / AD 1750-1765. 6 Shahis (Silver, 18 mm, 6.88 g, 12 h), type C, Astarabad, AH 1166 = AD 1752/3. Within circle: al-sulṭān Ismāʿīl (‘The Sultan Ismāʿīl’ in Arabic). Rev. Within a circle with pearl decorations: khallada Allāh mulkahu zarb-i Astarābād 1166 (‘May God perpetuate his kingdom, struck at Astarabad, 1166’ in Arabic and Persian). Album 2703. Farahbakhsh -. Extremely rare and beautifully toned. Off-centered, tiny marks and minor flan faults on the edge, otherwise, extremely fine.


Ismāʿīl III, born Abū Turāb, was raised to the throne in AH 1163 / AD 1750 as a Safavid figurehead, first by ʿAlī-Mardān Khān Bakhtiyārī and Karīm Khān Zand, in order to provide a Safavid source of legitimacy after the collapse of effective Safavid rule. His coinage is therefore politically important, since it preserves the Safavid royal name at a time when real power lay with competing post-Safavid military rulers.

The present issue was struck in a style closely related to the late Afsharid silver coinage of Nādir Shāh, reflecting continuity in mint practice. Ismāʿīl III is described as a Safavid ‘shadow-king’, and he was the last Safavid in whose name coins were struck, though not the effective political authority.