DLTcoins

A couple of years ago, I had a parcel coming to Florida from the UK. Everything was fine until Phillipsburg NJ, after which there were no scans for two weeks. The item reappeared at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where it passed through Malaysian customs. The item disappeared again for a couple of weeks, surfacing finally in California and continuing safely to Florida, some 25,000 miles total.

It's a monogram of Heraclius, see Sear Byz. p. 32, no. 25. It's clearer on Edessa's example.

This is an issue of Dimashq (Damascus), c. 670s-690. The symbol under the M is a star that is partly obscured by a die chip. The blundered Arabic legend around reads jaza hadha Dimashq wafiyat ("lawful this [fals in] Damascus true [weight]"). SICA-1, 564 (Goodwin type VI); Album 3517.3 (R).

The Mamluks adopted European herarldry early on. Each sultan had his own blazon(s).

The ruler's full protocol is Jamal al-Dawla wa Kamal al-Milla Abu Shuja' Farrukhzad bin Mas'ud Mu'ayyad Amir al-Mu'minin. Because the die is only so large, he is cited as Abu Shuja' Farrukhzad Mu'ayyad Amir al-Mu'minin. For practical collector purposes, "Farrukhzad" is enough. Farrukhzad was sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire. The coin also cites his spiritual overlord, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Qa'im. The mint and date are legible: Ghazna, AH [4]44. Album 1633. https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=49107 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farrukh-Zad_of_Ghazna

Yes, Mamluks, al-Mansur 'Ali II, 1376-1381, AE fals, mint (Dimashq) and date missing. Album 963; cf. Balog 501 (dated 781), 502 (dated 782) and 503 (dated 783).

Looks like a perfectly normal billon tanka, proper weight. Goron & Goenka D370. Tankas were issued in gold, silver and billion. The billon may have replaced silver but gold and silver/billon seem to have been issued concurrently. Their relative value is not known and may have fluctuated over time.

My impression is that "ex" should only be used when the provenance is something that can be verified independently (public auction, dealer price list, etc). A couple of fictional examples: Ex John Smith Collection, ABC Auction 123, New York, 1 January 1965, lot 52. From the John Smith Collection, purchased Spink, London, 1948.

I think you're conflating the Arab-Byzantine series (early Islamic issues imitating Byzantine protoypes) with earlier coins attributed to the "revolt of the Heraclii" and imitations of Byzantine coins struck under Persian occupation.

Yes, it's rare, I suppose. I had one in my collection of early Islamic copper. It brought a good price when I sold the collection but those used to buying Roman coins would probably find Umayyad coppers, even rare ones, relatively affordable. Note on the left face Arabic مصر (Misr, "Egypt") above a rudimentary Greek AΛΕ (αλ'). On the other face is الاسكندرية (al-Iskandariya) broken into two lines. There is no date but it bears the name of the finance minister 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan who is known to have been active in Egypt in 132h. There are a number of AE types for Umayyad Egypt, most of which have the thick fabric.

This Umayyad AE fals (4.87g) struck at al-Iskandariya (Alexandria) c. 750 CE shares the familiar dumpy fabric of the Late Roman tetradrachms and Byzantine dodecanummi. 📷 Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger

They are usually cast, often in a high-tin bronze that may have looked white(-ish) when new.

There are numismatists who study but don't collect. There are collectors who acquire but don't study. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, I think.

I believe reports at the time stated that the circumstances of the looting had been revealed by an informant. Rumor has it that photographs exist of the coin in situ at the time of its discovery. As far as the Beale case goes, Mr. Bragg has bigger fish to fry at the moment...

They want to prevent the forgers from using sensitive information in the Bulletin to their advantage. Unfortunately, the same information that helps dealers and collectors identify forgeries can also help forgers better evade detection.