Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Mithqal - Muhammad Khodabanda Safavi type B, Tebriz
| Issuer | Safavid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1579 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Mithqal (48) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Densely struck hammered gold flan bearing bold Arabic calligraphy in the Naskh script, covering the entire field without a defined border. The central legend declares the ruler's devotion as 'Ghulam-i Imam Muhammad Mahdi' (Servant of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi), a characteristic Safavid Twelver Shi'a profession of faith. The mint name Tabriz (تبریز) and the AH regnal year 987 appear within the field, completing the obverse inscription. The irregular flan and vigorous relief are typical of Safavid hammered gold coinage of the late sixteenth century. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Arabic |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Muhammad Khodabanda was nearly blind and considered unfit to rule when he was placed on the Safavid throne in 1578 following the death of Tahmasp II's successor. His reign was dominated by regency factions, a resurgent Ottoman threat, and the Uzbek raids pressing from the northeast simultaneously — a three-front crisis that left the central administration perpetually destabilized. Coinage from Tebriz during his reign is notably inconsistent in die execution, a direct consequence of disrupted mint oversight rather than any particular metallurgical failure.
The Type B designation distinguishes a revised kalima arrangement from the earlier issue. Tebriz fell to the Ottomans in 1585 and mint production there ceased abruptly.