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1 Drachm - al-Mahdi al-Fadl lillah Abbasid imitation of Bukhara drachmas
| Issuer | Abbasid Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1380-1383 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Crowned bust of ruler facing right, with a circle above the crown, rendered in the Sasanian-derived style characteristic of Bukharan drachm imitations. The obverse field carries a Sogdian legend reading 'King of Bukhara,' while an Arabic legend placed behind the head reads 'al-Mahdi; al-Fadl,' identifying the Abbasid authority responsible for the issue. The overall composition closely follows the iconographic conventions of earlier Bukharan silver coinage, adapted to incorporate the Islamic administrative inscriptions. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Sogdian/Arabic |
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| Additional information |
The Abbasid imitations of Bukhara drachmas occupy a peculiar corner of Islamic numismatics — struck centuries after the Sasanian prototypes they echo, they perpetuated a coin type so deeply embedded in Central Asian commercial habit that local merchants refused to accept anything else. Al-Mahdi al-Fadl lillah's issues from the early 1380s fall within the turbulent fragmentation following Mongol successor-state collapse, when caliphal monetary authority was more symbolic assertion than administrative reality. The Zeno reference for this specific piece remains one of very few documented examples attributing this combination of name and type.