Anonymous Arab-Sassanian Coin From Kirmān, 70 AH / 689 CE
Islamic Awareness
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First Composed: 7th April 2011
Last Modified: 8th April 2011
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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
Anonymous Arab-Sassanian coin, frozen in 70 AH.
Date
70 AH / 689 CE.
Contents
Obverse field: Typical late Arab-Sassanian bust without the name of governor. Instead it is occupied by Middle Persian legend MHMT PGTAMI Y DAT ("Muhammad is the messenger of God"). Obverse margin: bism Allāh walī / al-Amr ("In the name of God, the Master / of affairs").
Reverse field: Typical Arab-Sassanian fire-altar with attendants with unidentified mint (GRM-KRMAN) in the Kirman province and the date.
Comments
Weight = 3.94 gms.
This is the second earliest known record where the name "Muḥammad" is mentioned in a dated Muslim text. Furthermore, this is the earliest mention of the name "Muḥammad" in Middle Persian (Pahlavi). The earliest mention of the name "Muḥammad" in an Islamic text comes from an Arab-Sassanian coin of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd Allāh dated 66 AH / 685-686 CE.
A slight variant of this coin was published by Eshragh with the same Middle Persian inscription and date but with slightly different text in the obverse margin reading bism Allāh walī / Allāh ("In the name of God, friend / of God").
Location
Not known. Picture of the coin is taken from here.
References
[1] The New York Sale - Auction XIV - Greek, Roman And Byzantine Coins, Islamic And Indian Coins, A Large Selection Of World Coins Medals, Wednesday, January 10, 2007, pp. 108-109, Lot. 498.
[2] A. S. Eshragh, "An Interesting Arab-Sasanian Dirhem", ONS Newsletter, 2004, Volume 178, pp. 45-46.
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