HARTHAMID, RAFI‘ B. HARTHAMA (268-283h) Dinar, al-Muhammadiya 278h Obverse margin: Qur’an xxx, 4-5 Obverse field: bi’l-sana │ lillah al-qudra wa’l-azama │ wa minhu al-sa‘ada wa’l-nima │ al-Mansur Rafi‘ ibn Harthama │ wa’l-baha Reverse margin: Qur’an xlviii, 1-2, ‘We have indeed granted you a manifest victory, so God may pardon you your sins of the past and the future and may perfect His blessing upon you.’ Reverse field: bi’l-barakat │ la ilaha illa Allah │ Muhammad rasul Allah │ al-Mu‘tamid ‘ala Allah │ al-Mu ‘tadid billah │ wa’l-ghabta Weight: 4.23g References: Bernardi 208Mh, citing a single specimen; Miles, Rayy - Good very fine, apparently the second published Harthamid gold dinar and so of the highest rarity. Rafi‘ b. Harthama was an Iranian military commander who played a prominent role in the complex political and military history of Iran during the second part of the third century Hijri. Initially in the service of the Tahirids, during the 260s he fought with Ahmad al-Khujistani in the latter’s struggles for supremacy with the Saffarids. When the caliph al-Mu‘tamid stripped the Saffarids of their governorships a few year later, Rafi‘ was appointed governor of Khurasan and in this capacity campaigned successfully against the ‘Alids of Tabaristan under Muhammad b. Zayd, whom Rafi‘ forced to retreat into the mountains of Daylam. Rafi‘ probably entered Rayy in the year before this coin was struck and rebuilt its citadel in 278h, but he himself was forced to leave again in the following year. It has been suggested that the Qur’anic verse in the reverse margin was chosen to mark the conclusion of Rafi‘ b.Harthama’s successful campaigns against Muhammad b. Zayd.

Estimate: GBP 8000 - 12000