| Stephen Album Rare Coins > Auction 48 | Auction date: 18 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1710 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: UMAYYAD: Anonymous, cast AE fals (3.06g), Marw, AH109, A-B204.1, circular legends bism Allah marw dirham // sanat tis' wa mi'a ja'iz, weak obverse, finest known reverse with bold date, VF, RRR. The word "dirham" is not all that clear on any known example, and it may be that the "d" is part of the mint name "marrûd" for the mint of Marw Rud, known for an Umayyad fals dated AH115. Marw Rud was once an important city on the Murghab River about 100 miles southeast of Marw at the modern Afghan border. Estimate: 100-150 USD Starting price: 85 USD |  |
Match 1:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 3180 Price realized: 25 CHF (Approx. 28 USD / 26 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: ISLAMIC, Syria & al-Jazira (Pre-Seljuq). Hamdanids. Nasir al-Dawla (Abu Muhammad al-Hasan) and Sayf al-Dawla (Abu'l Hasan 'Ali), conjointly, AH 330-356 / AD 942-967. Dirham (Silver, 26 mm, 3.95 g, 3 h), Mint off flan, AH 335 = 946/7. 'lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / Sayf al-Dawla / Abu'l-Hasan' ('There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him. Sayf al-Dawla Abu'l-Hasan' in Arabic); in the inner margin, 'bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā ... khamsa wa thalāthīn wa thalātha miʾa' ('In the name of Allah. This [dirham] was struck ... 335' in Arabic); in the outer margin, traces of 'li-llāh al-amr min qabl wa min baʿd wa yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu al-muʾminūn bi naṣr Allāh' ('To Allah belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice with the help of Allah' in Arabic; Qurʾān 30: 4-5). Rev. Citing the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Mutiʿ lillah (AH 334-363 / AD 946-974), 'li-llāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / ṣalla Allāh ʿalayh wa ʿalā ālihī / al-Muṭīʿ lillāh / Nāṣir al-Dawla / Abū Muḥammad' ('To Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. May Allah bless him and his household. al-Mutiʿ lillah. Nasir al-Dawla Abu Muhammad' in Arabic); in the margin, traces of 'Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn' ('Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it' in Arabic). Album 748. Zeno-68680. Rare. Struck somewhat off center and with some scratches, otherwise, nearly very fine. From an important collection of Byzantine and Islamic coins and seals, formed over the past 25 years. Starting price: 25 CHF |  |
Match 2:
| Spink > Auction 23051 | Auction date: 27 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1148 Price realized: 1,500 GBP (Approx. 1,905 USD / 1,759 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Charles II (1660-1685), Shilling, 1669 over 6, first laureate and draped bust variety right, rev. four crowned shields cruciform, eight strings to Irish harp, edge obliquely milled. 5.91g, 6h (Marshall 82(b) = Murchison 397 = Rishton 138(b) = Brice = Montagu 810 = Murdoch 602 ["Unique"]; Woodhouse 326; Dalzell 82 = Pywell-Phillips 58 same dies; Shimmin (1983), pp. 232; Bull 515 [R6]; ESC 1031; Spink 3372), evenly circulated and lightly gilt, otherwise strictly fine, the reverse similarly so albeit for softness at Scottish shield, the edge milling residually sharp, an EXCESSIVELY RARE date, and the technical finest of the three we have been privileged to offer in these rooms since 2018. Provenance, "Reader's Rarities", Coin Monthly, February 1971, Reported to the Editor at Coin Monthly, 21 October 1970, ~ From the W J James Esq. Collection ~ , , Corpus:, i) Pywell-Phillips: Spink 257, 30-31 October 2018, lot 58 - "the reverse very softly struck, with general light pitting to surfaces, the portrait and overdate otherwise clear, about fine/poor, but excessively rare"; Lord Hamilton of Dalzell MC, Spink 3, 21 February 1979, lot 82 - "fair, but of the highest rarity" - £260; Spink, by private treaty, 1969; Herbert Alexander Parsons, Second Collection, Glendining, 11-13 May 1954, lot* 549 [part] - "well preserved and excessively rare" - £22.0.0, ii) H Manville, Spink 9, 4 June 1980, lot 54 - "small die rust marks in obverse field, obverse good very fine, reverse nearly extremely fine, attractively toned, and of highest rarity, one of the finest known" - £900; K Woodhouse, Glendining, 11 December 1968, lot 3268 "about extremely fine, only a few specimens known" - £300.0.0, , , , The excessive rarity of this date has been noted by auctioneers since at least the Rishton sale of 1875, but was further noted by George Marshall, pioneer of the study of English Milled coinage in a letter to W G Stearns of Boston Massachusetts, published in the Americana Numismatic Journals:, , "Ward End, near Birmingham, England, July 28, 1842, Dear Sir-: I received in due course, your obliging letter of 16th ultimo, and also the copy of your Half Crown of Charles 2d, date 1668, for which I beg you will accept my best thanks. My friend, Mr. J D Cuff of London, who has one of the best, if not the very best collections of English and Saxon Coins, was so fortunate as to meet with one of this date in August 1838; this with your own are the only ones I have yet heard of, but the fact is that before any publication of my work, no attention has been paid to dates by any previous author except Snelling, whose works though very valuable in many respects, and now very scarce, are not much to be relied upon as to dates. Since the publication of my book, much attention has been given to this subject, and some few dates before unknown, have made their appearance. , , I saw your letter to Dr. Bowditch of 18th March 1840, in answer to some enquiries he had made respecting the early history of the coins of your country, and which letter was read before the Numismatic Society of London on 2d May, 1840 and was published in the Numismatic Chronicle, in October of the same year. I was there first acquainted with the fact of your possessing the Half-Crown of 1668. The only dates which have occurred since my book was published , and which have come to my knowledge, are as follows: - viz: Charles 2d, Crown, 1665; Half Crown 1668; Shilling, 1669; do. 1681 without the Elephant and Castle under the head. William 3d Sixpence without Roses or Feathers on the reverse. William 4th Half Crown and Shilling both dated 1837. These are I believe all in the English series which are known except what are mentioned in my View of the Silver Coin, &c. I remain, dear Sir, Your much obliged servant, GEORGE MARSHALL." , , The number of 1668-dated Halfcrowns now known renders its classification as a more lowly "R2" according to Maurice Bull, although three have passed through our rooms since 2018 in various specialised cabinets. Marshall could sadly only muster 'an electro type of 1668', possibly that which Stearns had sent him from Boston in his sale in 1852 (cf. lot 71 part). He did however manage to purloin an example of the 1669 Shilling (cf. lot 82), which was acquired by William Webster, latterly of Messrs Spink, for Captain Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1864, lot 397 part]; at whose sale he repeated the feat as a commission agent for John Edward Makon Rishton (SO, 13 July 1875, lot 138 - £3.12.6); wherein for a third time Webster bought it for William Brice. Unbelievably when Brice sold his collection en bloc to Hyman Montagu in 1887, Webster would follow the coin to his new career at Spink where he would handle it for a fourth time in cataloguing it for the Sotheby's dispersals (1896/97); and a fifth time for the John Gloag Murdoch sale (1903/04) where it would be bought for £4.13.0 by Spink commission bidder, the Marquess of Bute. Estimate: £1400 - £2000 |  |
Match 3:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 2972 Price realized: 400 CHF (Approx. 454 USD / 420 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Muqtadir, second reign, AH 296-317 / AD 908-929. Dirham (Silver, 26 mm, 2.42 g, 7 h), Makka (Mecca), AH 299 = 911/2. Citing his son, Abuʾl-ʿAbbas, as heir apparent on the obverse. 'lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / Abuʾl-ʿAbbās ibn / amīr al-muʾminīn' ('There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him. Abuʾl-ʿAbbas, son of the Commander of the Believers' in Arabic); inner margin, 'bism Allāh [ḍuriba hādh]ā al-dirham bi Makka sana tisʿ wa tisʿīn wa miʾatayn' ('In the name of Allah. This dirham was struck in Makka in the year 299' in Arabic); outer margin, 'li-llāh [al-amr min qabl wa mi]n baʿd wa yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu al-muʾminūn bi naṣr Allāh' ('To Allah belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice with the help of Allah' in Arabic; Qurʾān 30: 4-5). Rev. 'li-llāh / Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh / al-Muqtadir billāh' ('To Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Muqtadir billah' in Arabic); in the margin, 'Muḥammad rasūl Allāh [arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyu]ẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn' ('Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it' in Arabic). Album 246.2. Extremely rare. Crystallized and broken, with one piece missing, otherwise, very fine. From an important collection of Byzantine and Islamic coins and seals, formed over the past 25 years. Starting price: 75 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 5690 Price realized: 60 CHF (Approx. 68 USD / 63 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. al-Walid I ibn 'Abd al-Malik, AH 86-96 / AD 705-715. Dirham (Silver, 27 mm, 2.83 g, 1 h), Marw, AH 95 = 713/4. 'lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū' ('There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him' in Arabic); in the margin: 'bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi Marw fī sana khams wa tisʿīn' ('In the name of Allah. This dirham was struck in Marw in the year 95' in Arabic). Rev. 'Allāh aḥad Allāh / al-ṣamad lam yalid wa / lam yūlad wa lam yakun / lahū kufuwan aḥad' ('Allah is One, Allah is Absolute, He begets not, nor is He begotten, and none is like Him' in Arabic; Qurʾān 112: 1-4); in the margin: 'Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn' ('Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it' in Arabic). Album 128. Fresh and attractive. Good extremely fine. Starting price: 25 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 6107 Price realized: 260 CHF (Approx. 296 USD / 274 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: ISLAMIC, Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Buwayhids (Buyids). Baha' al-Dawla Abu Nasr Firuz Kharshah, AH 379-403 / AD 989-1012. Dinar (Gold, 25 mm, 4.41 g, 4 h), Suq al-Ahwaz, AH 399 = 1008/9. Citing the ruler's titulature, continued on the reverse, 'lā ilāha illā Allāh / waḥdahū lā sharīka lahū / al-malik Bahāʾ al-Dawla / wa Ḍiyāʾ al-Milla / Abū Naṣr' ('There is no deity but Allah, the One, there is no partner to Him. King Bahaʾ al-Dawla wa Diyaʾ al-Milla Abu Nasr' in Arabic); inner margin, 'bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi Sūq al-Ahwāz sana tisʿ wa tisʿīn wa thalātha miʾa' ('In the name of Allah. This dinar was struck in Suq al-Ahwaz in the year 399' in Arabic); outer margin, 'li-llāh al-amr min qabl wa min baʿd wa yawmaʾidhin yafraḥu al-muʾminūn bi naṣr Allāh' ('To Allah belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice with the help of Allah' in Arabic; Qurʾān 30: 4-5). Rev. Citing the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Qadir billah (AH 381-422 / AD 991-1031), 'li-llāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / al-Qādir billāh / Shāhānshāh / Qawām al-Dīn' ('To Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. al-Qadir billah. King of Kings Qawam al-Din' in Arabic, with the Persian word 'Shāhānshāh'); in the margin, 'Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā wa dīn al-ḥaqq liyuẓhirahū ʿalā al-dīn kullih wa law kariha al-mushrikūn' ('Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it overcome all religions, even though the unbelievers may dislike it' in Arabic). Album 1573. Areas of weakness, otherwise, very fine. From an important collection of Byzantine and Islamic coins and seals, formed over the past 25 years. Starting price: 50 CHF |  |
