NY2019Ancient

Despite all of these features that might otherwise give the impression of a legitimate Byzantine solidus struck during

the coregency of Heraclius and his sons, the reverse type immediately betrays the coin as an imitation. Official issues fea-

ture a cross potent set on three steps, but here the crossbar has been raised to the top of the shaft, turning the usu-

al cross type into a T. The much smaller crosses that normally adorn the diadems and globes worn and carried by the em-

perors on the obverse have been modified in a similar way on this coin, making it clear that the omitted crossbar on the

obverse was no engraving error, but part of a clear attempt to remove explicit Christian symbolism from the types.

Although the rare examples of solidi with these de-Christianized types are occasionally attributed to northern barbarians, they

are far more likely to belong to the pseudo-Byzantine series struck by mints in Syria and the southern Levant following the

loss of the region (together with Egypt) to the Islamic Arabs in 634-642 and the end of locally produced and imported of-

ficial Byzantine coins. The present solidus was almost certainly struck to fill the need for gold coin that was no longer being

supplied to the region by the Byzantine imperial mint. In order to maintain trust in the new imitative coins, the types of the

latest official solidi circulating in the region were taken as models, just as they were for pseudo-Byzantine and subsequent

Arab-Byzantine bronze issues. However, the engraver clearly found himself in a difficult position: it was critical to retain the

traditional Byzantine types in order to avoid a crisis of faith in the coinage, but at the same time the retention of the tradi-

tional crosses — an unequivocal emblem of Christianity — posed a crisis of faith for the engraver and/or the Muslim au-

thorities responsible for the coinage. While the Quran recognized Jesus in the line of prophets leading up to Muhammad, it

did not accept the Christian belief in his crucifixion and resurrection. Therefore, from the religious perspective, it seemed

necessary to convert the crosses on the coin into something more neutral. Interestingly, while the removal of overtly Chris-

tian symbolism was deemed important at the time that the solidus was struck, the religiously-based aniconism that came to

characterize the majority of Islamic coinage after the reform of the Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik in 697 is not at all evident.

This solidus provides an important link between the official Byzantine gold coinage and the “Standing Caliph” di-

nars introduced by ‘Abd al-Malik in 693-697. It has long been suggested that the “Standing Caliph” dinars were pro-

duced as a direct response to the Christ solidi of Justinian II, ‘Abd al-Malik’s great Byzantine adversary, but the chrono-

logical relationship of the Christ solidi and the “Standing Caliph” dinars has been brought into question. Even if a

so-called “war of images” between ‘Abd al-Malik and Justinian II did result in the “Standing Caliph” dinars, the iconogra-

phy of the latter is firmly rooted in the solidi of Heraclius and the modified types of the present pseudo-Byzantine solidus.

Both issues feature a modified cross-on-steps reverse — sometimes the cross is converted into a phi (

) rather than an I

form on “Standing Caliph” dinars — while the standing caliph (representing ‘Abd al-Malik himself) on the obverse seems

to be influenced by the central standing figure of Heraclius on the pseudo-Byzantine solidus. The standing caliph sports

an impressive beard like that of Heraclius although the caliph’s stylist has controlled his mustache to a much greater de-

gree than that of the Byzantine Emperor. The caliph also wears a similar embroidered robe and holds his arms diagonal-

ly (slanting right rather than left as on the solidus), but replaces the de-Christianized globe with a sword in its scabbard.

This coin is not only an object of desire due to its beautiful metal and high state of preservation, but also due to its

great importance for the development of early Islamic coinage. It also marks a profound turning point in the artis-

tic, political, and religious history in the Middle East. The Christian Byzantine Empire had come to an end in the re-

gion and this solidus encapsulates the growing pains of the young Islamic empire of the Umayyad dynasty that replaced it.

This extremely rare gold solidus represents the earliest Arab gold coinage and it may be regarded as the precurser of all the later Islamic gold coinage.

References: Miles, G: Earliest Arab Gold Coinage in the American Numismatic Society Notes, No. 13, 1967; Foss, S: Arab Byz-

antine Coins: An Introduction with a Catalogue of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Harvard University Press 2008.

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