temp. al-Mahdi / al-Hadi, ‘Abbasid Caliphs AH 158-169/AD 775-785; AH 169-170/AD 785-786

SICA-3, 122-124; A 214, Extremely Fine

Mintless early type. Kalima at center, Qur’an 9:33 in margin; Reverse, continuation of Kalima, date formula in margin. Ex St. James Auctions 34, lot 594, attributed there to al-Hadi. Nicol, in the Ashmolean Sylloge, reads the date as 157 based on the pellet below the unit, reading seb’ (“seven”) rather than tis’ (“nine”). Since the coin itself does not name the caliph, it may have been issued by either al-Mahdi or al-Hadi. In his Checklist, Album notes “only the year 70 is traditionally assigned to al-Hadi”.

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