Coins of Medieval Asia

Qunduz (Kunduz) is one of the 34 provinces of modern day Afghanistan and borders on what is now Tajikistan. These low denomination 2 dinar coins were issued under Khusraw Shah, who was once Governor of Qunduz under the Timurid Empire, but he later declared himself Emir in 1497 and reigned until his death in 1505. On the obverse of the coin is a deer facing left, while on the reverse a 3-line legend within a diamond shaped border. These circulated coins are now over 500 years old and very hard to find.

These small silver 1 dirham coins circulated in Sindh province, which is located in what is now south-east Pakistan. Also known as “damma”, the coins were in use during the rule of the Habbari Dynasty, which ruled Sindh and the Punjab between 854AD and 1011AD. The coins themselves date from the time of the founder of the dynasty, Umar bin Abdul Aziz al-Habbari, who reigned from 854AD until 884AD. Although there has been some wear and tear, these coins are over 1,000 years old and are in Very Fine condition.

Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II was the sultan of the Seljuqs of Rûm from 1237 until his death in 1246. He ruled at the time of the Babai uprising and the Mongol invasion of Anatolia. He led the Seljuq army with its Christian allies at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243 and was the last of the Seljuq sultans to wield any significant power, he died a vassal of the Mongols. Between ca. 1240–1243 a series of remarkable silver dirhams were struck in Kaykhusraw’s name depicting a lion and sun. Generally, Islamic traditions forbid representations of living things so it is very unusual to find such iconography on Islamic coins. Several explanations of the lion and sun have been offered to suggest that the images represent the constellation Leo, the astrological sign of Kaykhusraw’s beloved Georgian wife Tamar or that the lion represents Kaykhusraw and the sun Tamar. Grading Good Very Fine, these are beautiful silver coins struck around 780 years ago. Limited availability and the first time we have offered these coins.