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Mardin Hoardby William RainesIn 1972 the London
firm A. H. Baldwin & Sons purchased a large collection of more than 13,000
uncleaned AE Byzantine folles from a source in Germany.
The coins were mostly in quite worn condition but were nevertheless of particular interest
because about 17% (that is, just over 2,200) carried Islamic countermarks. This was then (and remains today) by far the largest single known group
of such Islamic-countermarked folles. And the original hoard from which these
coins came was perhaps double the size of the assortment acquired by Baldwin’s,
because another similar tranche had apparently been sold previously to different
buyers.  

These coins came to be known as the ‘Mardin Hoard’
(hereafter, MH). Mardin is a town in the south-east of Turkey
near the Syrian border. In the 12th century Mardin was the capital of one principal
branch of the Artuqid dynasty and several of the commonest countermarks
represented in the MH can be ascribed to those Turkoman princes. It is
quite plausible that the MH did originate in the area around Mardin.
However, the descriptor ‘Mardin’ is best understood as an educated guess, since no
precise information about where the MH was found has ever been publicly revealed.

Before re-selling the MH group, Baldwin’s arranged
for a serious numismatic analysis. The results were published as a monograph, The Mardin Hoard, in 1977.[1]Nearly all the MH coins were Anonymous Folles and other Imperial
Byzantine issues dating from the period 969 – 1092, i.e. from the reign
of John I Tzimisces until the currency reform under Alexius I Comnenus.
The single commonest type was the Class K Follis of Alexius I (1819 specimens,
of which 392 have countermarks); yet almost equally common was the much earlier Class
A (1797 specimens, 170 countermarked). There were a limited number of atypical types: about 130 of the coins predate
the Anonymous Follis period and at the extreme there were a handful of
6th century folles (Anastasius, Justin, Justinian, etc.). A few contemporary counterfeits were also mixed in. 

At the other extreme the MH included a single post-reform Alexius
I tetarteron and a meagre three Islamic coins. One could regard these as chance
strays, but they are patinated and worn identically to other MH coins. The two
latest Islamic types were Seljuk issues, dating from the early 13th century. Given the wear, this suggests that the MH may have been hidden during the
Mongol disruptions of the second half of the 13th century. Also, taking into
account the age and condition of the vast majority of hoard coins at the presumed
time of deposit and the distinct minority of coins with countermarks,
one might argue that the MH represented someone’s copper bullion stockpile rather
than a currency stash.

The countermarks are the most interesting aspect of the collection.
The 1977 monograph also took into account some 500 examples of countermarked folles
known from sources other than the MH and it remains the standard reference
guide to Islamic countermarks on Byzantine coins. Nicholas Lowick identified
28 distinct countermark types, generally consisting of a few letters in
Kufic or Naskhi script within a circular or rectangular border. Some types are
represented by hundreds of examples, others by only a few – in one case by a
single specimen.  There are a number of coins
bearing more than one countermark, and sometimes one countermark is stamped
directly over another (which makes possible relative dating arguments). The extent of countermarking seems to have been limited temporally
to roughly the second half of the 12th century and limited geographically to the area including
Mardin and Diyarbakir, and extending
north-east to Lake Van and south beyond Nisibis.   The princely families represented are the Artuqids, Zengids, Inalids, and Begtimurids, though it is not always possible to attribute a countermark type to
a particular ruler or dynasty.

One relatively uncommon countermark (number 5 in Lowick’s assignment
) may be of special interest, because it consists of the Arabic word
‘dhimam’. This should mean the right of
a dhimmi, a non-Muslim, to enjoy the
protection of the local Muslim ruler. Such protection was dependent on the payment
of a special tax, the jizyah,
which only non-Muslims paid. The authors of The Mardin
Hoard speculate that the entire series of Islamic countermarks may have
something to do with the collection of the jizyah, rather than with more general currency validation.  

 [1]  The Mardin
Hoard by N.M. Lowick, S. Bendall, and P.D. Whitting, A.H. Baldwin
& Sons Ltd, London 1977, 79
pages, including 8 plates plus numerous tables and illustrations.

 

 

Mardin Hoardby William RainesIn 1972 the London
firm A. H. Baldwin & Sons purchased a large collection of more than 13,000
uncleaned AE Byzantine folles from a source in Germany.
The coins were mostly in quite worn condition but were nevertheless of particular interest
because about 17% (that is, just over 2,200) carried Islamic countermarks. This was then (and remains today) by far the largest single known group
of such Islamic-countermarked folles. And the original hoard from which these
coins came was perhaps double the size of the assortment acquired by Baldwin’s,
because another similar tranche had apparently been sold previously to different
buyers.  

These coins came to be known as the ‘Mardin Hoard’
(hereafter, MH). Mardin is a town in the south-east of Turkey
near the Syrian border. In the 12th century Mardin was the capital of one principal
branch of the Artuqid dynasty and several of the commonest countermarks
represented in the MH can be ascribed to those Turkoman princes. It is
quite plausible that the MH did originate in the area around Mardin.
However, the descriptor ‘Mardin’ is best understood as an educated guess, since no
precise information about where the MH was found has ever been publicly revealed.

Before re-selling the MH group, Baldwin’s arranged
for a thorough numismatic analysis. The results were published as a monograph, The Mardin Hoard, in 1977.[1]Nearly all the MH coins were Anonymous Folles and other Imperial
Byzantine issues dating from the period 969 – 1092, i.e. from the reign
of John I Tzimisces until the currency reform under Alexius I Comnenus.
The single commonest type was the Class K Follis of Alexius I (1819 specimens,
of which 392 have countermarks); yet almost equally common was the much earlier Class
A (1797 specimens, 170 countermarked). There were a limited number of atypical types: about 130 of the coins predate
the Anonymous Follis period and at the extreme there were a handful of
6th century folles (Anastasius, Justin, Justinian, etc.). A few contemporary counterfeits were also mixed in. 

At the other extreme the MH included a single post-reform Alexius
I tetarteron and a meagre three Islamic coins. One could regard these as chance
strays, but they are patinated and worn identically to other MH coins. The two
latest Islamic types were Seljuk issues, dating from the early 13th century. Given the wear, this suggests that the MH may have been hidden during the
Mongol disruptions of the second half of the 13th century. Also, taking into
account the age and condition of the vast majority of hoard coins at the presumed
time of deposit and the distinct minority of coins with countermarks,
one might argue that the MH represented someone’s copper bullion stockpile rather
than a currency stash.

The countermarks are the most interesting aspect of the collection.
The 1977 monograph also took into account some 500 examples of countermarked folles
known from sources other than the MH and it remains the standard reference
guide to Islamic countermarks on Byzantine coins. Nicholas Lowick identified
28 distinct countermark types, generally consisting of a few letters in
Kufic or Naskhi script within a circular or rectangular border. Some types are
represented by hundreds of examples, others by only a few – in one case by a
single specimen.  There are a significant number of coins
bearing more than one countermark, and sometimes one countermark is over-stamped
directly on another (which establishes relative dating). The phenomenon of countermarking seems to have been limited in time to roughly the second half of the 12th century and limited geographically to the area including
Mardin and Diyarbakir, and extending
north-east to Lake Van and south beyond Nisibis.  The princely families represented are the Artuqids, Zengids, Inalids, and Begtimurids, though it is not always possible to attribute a countermark type to
a particular ruler or dynasty.

One relatively uncommon countermark (number 5 in Lowick’s assignment
) may be of special interest, because it consists of the Arabic word
‘dhimam’. This should mean the right of
a dhimmi, a non-Muslim, to enjoy the
protection of the local Muslim ruler. Such protection was dependent on the payment
of a special tax, the jizyah,
which only non-Muslims paid. The authors of The Mardin
Hoard speculate that the entire series of Islamic countermarks may have
something to do with the collection of the jizyah, rather than with more general currency validation.  

 [1]  The Mardin
Hoard by N.M. Lowick, S. Bendall, and P.D. Whitting, A.H. Baldwin
& Sons Ltd, London 1977, 79
pages, including 8 plates plus numerous tables and illustrations.