Lot 838 KUSHAN: Huvishka, ca. 155-187 AD, AV dinar (7.96g), G-157.1, BMC-XXVIII/24, NC-XX/17 (same reverse die), diademed and crowned half-length bust left, with flames above right shoulder, holding mace and ankusa (elephant goad), clouds below, ÞAOhAHOÞAO O-OhÞKI KOÞANO // three nimbate figures standing facing on double dais within ornate aedicule, the central figure crowned, the others with their heads turned toward him, tamgha in inner left field, MA-AC-H-NO BIZAΓO CKANΔO K-OMAPO, Choice About Unc, RRR. This is the first example of this type to be offered for sale in a public auction. Only a few other specimens are known to exist, including two in the British Museum (#1867,1218.11, plate example in BMC (1886), NC (1892), Göbl (1984) as G-157.1; #1865,0803.16, possibly a later imitation due to its rather crude style), and one in the Münzkabinett at the Berlin State Museums (#18206906, plate example in Göbl (1984) as G-157.2, with a very similar obverse to our example). Judging by their depiction on the coinage of Huvishka (G-156, 157, 298), Mahasena (Maaseno), Skanda-Kumara (Skando-Bizago), Vishakha (Bizago) were separate war deities in the Kushan pantheon before fusing into a single deity by the Gupta period. Today, they are among the many names for Kartikeya, the Hindu god of war. Estimate $50,000-55,000

Lot 28 EGYPT (PTOLEMAIC): Ptolemy VI Philometor, 181/0-145 BC, AV octodrachm-mnaieion (27.60g), Kition (Citium), Cyprus, year 29 (153/2 BC), Svoronos— (unrecorded date), SNG Copenhagen—, struck in the name of the deified Queen Arsinoe II (died 270 BC), head right with ram's horn, veiled and wearing stephanos, lotus-tipped scepter in background // double cornucopiae bound with fillet, pomegranates and grape clusters hanging from the brim of each horn, date (LKΘ) and mintmark (KI) on either side, APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY, light scratches in obverse field, bent and brushed, Strike 5/5, Surface 2/5, NGC graded Choice EF, possibly unique. An extremely rare mint for Ptolemaic gold coins, Svoronos knew of only year 14 from Kition for Ptolemy VI, as well as only a handful others for the entire dynasty. Only one other example dated year 23 (Lanz 102:343 in 2001, unpublished in Svoronos) has ever appeared in a public auction to our knowledge. Estimate $20,000-25,000

Lot 186 UMAYYAD: 'Abd al-Malik, 685-705, AR dirham (2.76g), Tiflis, AH85, A-126, Klat-197, Bennett-54, some modest damage near the edge, but all inscriptions are fully legible and the weight is correct for a similarly worn early Umayyad dirham, VF, RRRR. Tiflis is one of the extremely rare Umayyad dirham mints, and is one of the most popular, the first Islamic coin struck in Georgia and in great demand amongst Georgian collectors. There are no examples of this mint on CoinArchives (except the unique piece dated AH86). Estimate $14,000-16,000

Lot 262 ABBASID: al-Muqtadir, 908-932, AV dinar (3.89g), Tabariya, AH311, A-245.2, Bernardi-242Gi, one of the rarest dinar mints for the Abbasids, a Palestinian city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee; bold strike, EF to About Unc, RRR. Estimate $12,000-15,000

Lot 878 COOCH BEHAR: Nripendra Narayan, 1838-1911, AV nazarana mohur, CB354 (1864), KM-180, sri sri / siva char(ana) / kamala mad / huka(asya) in Bengali; pellet within crescent after legend; all within linear quadrate border with floral ornaments at corners; additional floral ornaments in external voids; all within border of alternating dentils and pellets // sri sri / nripendra / nara / yana / san 354 sake in Bengali; floral ornaments flanking sri sri, a lovely toned lustrous nearly mint state example! PCGS graded AU58, RRR. Estimate $10,000-15,000

Lot 476 'ALID OF TABARISTAN: al-Hassan b. Zayd, 864-884, AV dinar (4.1g), Nishapur, AH262, A-T1523, with the 'Alid phrase al-da'i illa al-haqq, "advocate for the truth", and Qur'an verses 33:33 in the obverse margin, 22:39 in the reverse margin, lovely strike, VF to EF, RRRR. This is the second known specimen of the Nishapur AH262 gold dinar, the first sold in the Islamic Coin Auction #2 in 2000 (lot 524), when the city of Nishapur was in confrontation between Sunni and Shi'ite supporters, falling to the Sunni rulers by 268 (after an hiatus in coinage 263-267). Estimate $10,000-13,000

Lot 322 FATIMID: Abu Yazid Makhlad, 945-946, AV dinar (4.16g), al-Qayrawan, AH333, A-A694, with the additional phrases rabbunâ Allah and the Kharijite la hukma illa lillah above the obverse and al-'izzatu lillah above the reverse, plus al-haqq al-mubin // khatim al-nabiyyin divided below the obverse and reverse; lovely example, finer than the three pieces recorded on CoinArchives, choice EF, RRR. According to N.D. Nicol, "Abu Yazid was born about 270/883 and became a Kharijite leads of the Ibadi al-Nukkar sect. He began anti-government agitation during the reign of al-Mahdi, but it was in the final years of the caliphate of al-Qa'im that Abu Yazid began the revolt which almost destroyed the Fatimid regime in its infancy." This took place in AH333-334 (945-946), but the next Fatimid caliph al-Mansur rapidly defeated and captured Abu Yazid, who died in the first month of AH336. Estimate $8,000-10,000

Lot 846 GUPTA: Kumaragupta I, 409-450/52, AV dinar (8.08g), BMC-254/56, Kumar p.316 (class II), Peacock Type: Kumaragupta, nimbate, standing left, his hand empty, bending over a peacock // the god of war Karttikeya, holding a spear and seated astride a resplendent facing peacock, which is perched atop an altar, VF, RR. Estimate $4,000-5,000

Lot 212 ABBASID REVOLUTION: Anonymous, 744-751, AR dirham (2.81g), Marw, AH131, A-206.2, Klat-—, struck by partisans of Abu Muslim ('Abd al-Rahman b. Muslim al-Balkhi) at Balkh AH130-132, Jurjan 130, Marw 130-131, and al-Rayy 131; this is the first example of type A-206.2, with 4 groups of triplets of dots in the outer obverse margin within the mint/date formula and Qur'an verse 42:23 in the inner margin; unique and of the highest rarity! VF, RRRR. Klat lists the type only for AH130 at Marw (his #604, several on CoinArchives), which switched to type #206.3, without the Qur'an verse 42:23 (only scarce for all years 131-133). In the 20 years since Klat published his standard reference for Umayyad dirhams, only two new types have been discovered, a lovely version for Sijistan 132 (two known, from New York Sale 2013 and ICA auction 27 in 2016). Estimate $6,000-8,000

Lot 437 EGYPT: Abdul Hamid II, 1876-1909, AR 20 qirsh, AH1293-W year 29, KM-296, struck from dies produced at the Berlin mint, PCGS graded Proof 65. The initial W stands for the designer Emil Weigand at the Berlin Mint. During the regnal year 29 (=1903/04) the Cairo government switched from the Berlin mint to the Heaton Mint in Birmingham, indicated by the letter H instead of W. All the silver coins (1, 2, 5, 10, 20 qirsh) were struck at both mints in the regnal year 29. Proof silver coins from Berlin are of the highest rarity, reported by both KM and UBK as confirmed only for the regnal year 17, of which just one example is recorded on CoinArchives (sold in January 2022). There are no proof 20 qirsh coins struck at Heaton, only some extremely rare specimen strike examples, of which one was sold at the Goldberg Auction 15, lot 258, in June 2002, incorrectly described as "brilliant proof", but is in fact the well-attested specimen strike. The Berlin year 29 proof 20 qirsh appears to be unique, and may have been produced for the purpose of promoting the quality of the Berlin mint as opposed to Heaton. We do not know why Egypt switched from the Berlin to the Heaton mint, though there must be some intriguing administrative or political background behind this change. Estimate $6,000-8,000

Lot 197 UMAYYAD: Sulayman, 715-717, AR dirham (2.72g), Dasht Mishan, AH97, A-131, Klat-322, lightly cleaned, nice strike, extremely rare mint for all known dates, only 2 listed by Klat for AH79 and just two on CoinArchives, pleasing VF, RRR. Estimate $5,000-6,000

Lot 941 BRITISH INDIA: Edward VII, 1901-1910, AR rupee, 1909(b), KM-508, S&W-7.48, Bombay mint, original proof striking, rare as such, uneven but pleasing toning, PCGS graded Proof 62. Estimate $5,000-6,000

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