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A Byzantine/Arab AE Fals - need help with identification


robinjojo

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From time to time I come across an imitation of a 7th century AD Byzantine follis, in this case an Arabic "standing caliph" type that is somewhat out of the norm.  This coin, acquired last month, depicts a standing caliph holding a cross and an orb, with a falcon to the left on the obverse.  On the reverse, there's a Chi-Rho cross above a large M, with what appears to be Arabic script.

Can anyone help identify the ruler, mint and period?

The coin weighs 4.19 grams, and it has been under treatment for apparent bronze disease.

239168686_D-CameraArabByzantineAEfalsstandingcaliphfalconleft4.19grams12-20-22.jpg.cee8406c232f495b3be68234f1b27ba0.jpg

 

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Damascus, c. 670s-693. Album 3517.3 (R). The standing figure is not a caliph but the Byzantine emperor of the prototype although Syria had been under Muslim rule for a generation by that point. Your coin was most likely struck while Mu'awiya was the Umayyad caliph but the minting authority was the local "Jund" or military district. The Arabic legend on the reverse is:

ضرب دمشق جايز

zarb Dimashq ja'iz

"struck Damascus lawful"

https://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=5662

Edited by DLTcoins
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