Zengid

[dougsmit]

Each week it seems I find a coin that shows yet another area in which I am weaker than I'd like.  This one was purchased as 'possibly Indian' but it seems obviously a Zengid of Mosul.  I'm unclear how to tell for sure but my guess is Saif al Din Ghazi II AH569???  Confirmation or correction appreciated and, moreover, what can be seen on the coin that makes it certainly whatever it is.  My best reference for this is CNG sale 38.  Under the chin are three dents.  Are these just damage?  These seem almost too regular to be just damage to an otherwise unspectacular coin.



Thanks.

[bakkar]

Yes it is as you describe.
You can see further details on my two specimens image below.
The first one (for Mawdud)dated 556AH and the second one is 569Ah (for Ghazi), exactly as yours.

regards
Bakkar

[cliff_marsland]

Some of those medieval Islamic coins are fairly interesting, as they are loosely based on ancient issues, which means they had coin of that period lying around.  Who started the imitations of ancient issues?

[Sri_Sahi]

Each week it seems I find a coin that shows yet another area in which I am weaker than I'd like.  This one was purchased as 'possibly Indian' but it seems obviously a Zengid of Mosul.  I'm unclear how to tell for sure but my guess is Saif al Din Ghazi II AH569???  Confirmation or correction appreciated and, moreover, what can be seen on the coin that makes it certainly whatever it is.  My best reference for this is CNG sale 38.  Under the chin are three dents.  Are these just damage?  These seem almost too regular to be just damage to an otherwise unspectacular coin.

The marginal inscription on the obverse is the date written out in words. tis' wa sittin wa khams mi'at = "nine and sixty and five hundred". The digit could possibly be seb' ("seven") which is written almost identically, the difference being whether the 1st or 4th vertical stroke is taller than the other 3. The ruler's name is partially visible in the reverse margin. "Ghazi bin" at top and "Mawdud" at left. The 4 lines of central inscription are titles: "The just king/ the wise king of the commanders/ of the east and of the west/ falcon knight, atabeg". The pits are either corrosion or an imperfection on the flan. Album 1861.1 / Spengler & Sayles 60.

[Sri_Sahi]

Some of those medieval Islamic coins are fairly interesting, as they are loosely based on ancient issues, which means they had coin of that period lying around.  Who started the imitations of ancient issues?

These begin in the mid-12th century and are mostly the issues of Turcoman princes (atabegs), vassals of the Seljuq Turks. The Turks at this period were relatively new to Islam and new to the region (the Turks actually originated in Mongolia and China). They seem to have been not as strict about the Quranic ban on graven images, so they copied earlier coins from the region - Seleukid, Roman provincial, Byzantine, etc - which they admired. Some have speculated that the engravers may have been Nestorian Christians who came with the Turks from Central Asia.

[dougsmit]

The pits are either corrosion or an imperfection on the flan.

Thank you very much for the complete tour of the legends.  The three dents show on the reverse as raised places a bit lighter than the surrounding areas (allow for the 9 o'clock axis) in the lower left.  I saw no evidence of countermark detail but they were caused by an external blow rather than corrosion.  Of course they could be damage hundreds of years after the coin was made and have no part of the coin's history but I thought I'd ask just in case.

Obviously I need to work on my lighting skills if I am to show such imperfections in 3D.