Description
Nicol, Norman D. Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean. Volume 4. Later Abbasid Precious Metal Coinage (from 219 AH). Oxford, 2012. Quarto, pp. 14, 4 pages of maps, 79 plates all with accompanying text. Casebound, jacket.
The fourth volume of the Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean contains the coinage of the later Abbasids (219 AH onwards). Although less varied in typology than the earlier caliphal coinage, the volume contains an outstanding collection of a series which has not been fully illustrated and published in such fine detail. Contained in this catalogue are more than 1700 Abbasid gold and silver coins dating from between 219 and 656 AH. Among the highlights are the donative or presentation issues which shed light on the social life and visual culture of the caliphal court and provide a welcome supplement to the purely epigraphic issues of the standard coinage. The coins in all three metals are arranged chronologically by caliph and year under the names of the mints in Arabic alphabetical order.
