Textiles Studies
Date of this Version
1979
Document Type
Article
Citation
THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY MUSEUM NOTES 24 (1979), pp. 243-256, plates 48-49.
Abstract
Four Buyid coins in the collection of t he American Numismatic Society, struck between 358-68 H. /A.D. 968-79 at two mints in Jibal province, illustrate a phenomenon unique in the history of Islamic coinage. They concern the status of a die engraver named al-Hasan b. Muhammad. A silver dirham bearing his signature was first noted by George C. Miles and published in 1938. It was at that time the only Islamic coin known to bear the signature of a die engraver. More recently, four additional coins have been located which shed more light upon the career of this artisan. His signature occurs on two of these coins, one like that described by Miles struck in Isbahan in 358, the other struck in al-Muhammadiyya in 362. The later issue, however, shows an erasure of his name, leading to the speculation that he fell out of favor and his name was obliterated, or that he was forced to remove his signature from the die. The sequence begins with the dirham published by Miles, which was issued by the Buyid Mu'ayyad al-Dawla governing Isbahan.
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Art and Materials Conservation Commons, Art Practice Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Museum Studies Commons
Comments
© Copyright 1979 The American Numismatic Society