100 / 166
TYRANT COLLECTION
98
225
rashidun Caliphate
Silver Drachm, AH 30 (YE?)
temp. ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, Rashidun Caliph, AH 41-60/AD 661-680
Walker 14; A 4. Extremely Fine.
DA (Darabjird) mint. Anonymous Arab-Sasanian Khusro II type with Pahlavi legends, Arabic “bism
Allah” added in obverse margin; reverse, fire altar with attendants, mint and date. There is some contro-
versy regarding whether the year 30 in this context should be regarded as Hijri or Yazdegard Era. If it is
indeed Hijri, then this coin would have been issued during the reign of the Rashidun Caliph ‘Uthman ibn
‘Affan (23-35h/ 644-656). If it is year 30 of then Yazdegard Era, then it is equivalent to 41h, falling at the
beginning in the reign of the first Umayyad Caliph, Mu’awiya I. (41-60h/ 661-680).
Darabjird, in the province of Fars in southern Iran, was an active Sasanian mint and continued its large
output into the early Islamic period.
226
Umayyad Caliphate
Silver Drachm, AH 43 (frozen date)
Mu’awiya I, Umayyad Caliph, AH 41-60/AD 661-680
Walker B.3 var; SICA-1, 245-246; A 14. Extremely Fine.
DA (Darabjird) mint. Arab-Sasanian Khusro II type, naming Mu’awiya in Pahlavi script, “bism Allah”
in Arabic in obverse margin; reverse, fire altar with attendants, mint and date. Pahlavi “GM” monogram
in reverse margin. This is the first Islamic coin from any region to cite the name of a caliph and the only
known type that cites Mu’awiya. Rare and of great historical interest.
The first Umayyad Caliph was Mu’awiya I (AH 41-60/ AD 681-680) who had been governor of Syria
under the Rashidun. The Umayyad family claimed descent from Umayya ibn ‘Abd Shams, the brother
of the Prophet Muhahammad’s paternal great-grandfather and were members of the Quraysh tribe. Syria
remained the Umayyad power base with Damascus as their capital.