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Drachm - 'Abd Allah b. 'Ariq Arab-Sasanian
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 685-686 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Bust of a Sasanian-style ruler facing right, wearing a distinctive mural or winged crown with crescent and globes in the Sasanian royal tradition, rendered in low relief characteristic of Arab-Sasanian coinage. The bust is encircled by a beaded border, with the field showing traces of Arabic or Pahlavi marginal legends. The portrait retains the stylized drapery and facial features derived from late Sasanian prototypes, reflecting the transitional artistic character of early Umayyad provincial silver coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 65 (685) - - 66 (686) - - |
| Additional information |
Arab-Sasanian coinage occupied an administrative stopgap — Arab governors issuing silver in the Sasanian tradition while the new caliphate had not yet established its own monetary identity. 'Abd Allah b. 'Ariq governed in the east during a particularly unstable stretch of Umayyad consolidation, just as the Second Fitna was exhausting itself and 'Abd al-Malik was moving toward the sweeping monetary reform he would complete in 696–698. This drachm predates that reform by roughly a decade.
The reformed coinage of 696–698 rendered Arab-Sasanian types obsolete almost overnight.