Rare Islamic gold coins go on sale in London

Specialist London auctioneers Morton & Eden will sell three of the earliest and rarest Islamic gold coins in a sale of Important Coins of the Islamic World on Monday April 22.

Struck only a few decades after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the coins tell the story of how the early Muslims created one of the largest and most influential empires the world has ever seen. Together, they are expected to sell for more than £350,000. Two of the three coins look like Byzantine solidi and bear the portraits of Christian Byzantine emperors who ruled in the early decades of the 7th century AD. However, closer inspection reveals subtle differences from the thousands of regular solidi which survive. In the present examples, all Christian symbols have been discreetly but thoroughly removed. In fact, these are Islamic coins, struck from subtly modified dies in the provinces which the Muslims had conquered from the Byzantines.

Morton & Eden’s sale of Important Coins of the Islamic World comprises 134 lots carefully chosen for their rarity, historical importance and aesthetic qualities. Together they cover much of the history of Islam from antiquity to the early 20th century.

The auction includes coins of the Umayyad, Abbasid, Spanish Umayyad, Fatimid, Mamluk and Ottoman dynasties, including unique and unpublished pieces, as well as other rarities from other dynasties.