Public Numismatic Auction #8

THE FIRST ISLAMIC GOLD COINAGE : THE SOLIDUS. Dynastie Omeyyade. Lot de 2 monnaies en or : Solidus arabo-byzantin non daté, vers AH 60-72 (679-691), et Solidus byzantin d'Héraclius non daté, vers AH 16-20 (638-641). Trois personnages debout de face / VICTORIA - AVGUS. Pilier sur quatre degrés, entre deux monogrammes. CONOB en exergue. Même type, mais avec des croix à l'avers et au revers, pour le prototype byzantin. 4,42g. et 4,49g. Bernardi 4 var. ; Miles 8 pl. XLV var. ; SNG Ashmolean 606 var. (Sear 770 pour le prototype). Un témoin exceptionnel des débuts de l'Islam. Très beau à Superbe.
The Byzantine solidus was the gold coin in universal use throughout the eastern Roman world.  After the collapse of Byzantine rule in Syria the need for locally produced gold coinage prompted the Caliph Mu’awiya to produce his own.  Several de-Christianised types were produced (without Christian symbols), copied from the Byzantine coinage of the Emperors Phocas and Heraclius.  On this coin all Christian crosses have been removed from both the obverse headdresses of the three figures and the staffs that they carry in their right hands.  On the reverse the Byzantine cross on steps was modified by removing the top of the cross and replacing it with a pole topped by a bar on four steps.  This is the earliest, and very rare, example of the development of Islamic thinking on the coinage. This Arab-Byzantine gold coin is sold together with the Byzantine solidus after which it was modeled.