Hejira Date and Related Series.

      My father, who was stationed in  Iran & Iraq during World War II brought
back a number of Iranian 5 rials. He taught me  about "Arabic" Arabic numerals
from reading the dates on these coins.

     I looked through the Krause catalog for series that seemed interesting, but reasonable
to complete. I settled on the Morocco 10 Dirhams  and Yemen Ryals 1344 - 1382.
 The Morrocco pieces listed at about $100 or less in  XF to BU. It took about 2 or 3
years to assemble this set in high grade around 1980.

     The Yemen Ryals proved deceptively hard to complete. Despite a top list price of $75,
it took 25  years to assemble the series. I bought the first 1367 I saw after 25 years.
The majority of this series are dated 1373. Several dates (1367, 1371, 1378)  appear
very infrequently. Some (1374, 1375) seem to surface in clusters with years going by
before one is offered, followed by a year with several offered.

      Other crowns with "Arab" numeral dates and related material.  Egypt . Iran . Turkey    
 . Samanid (Persia ca. 900 CE),  Algeria.1238 (1821).Comoros.1308 (1890).Hejaz 1334 (1916). India SE 1530(1608), AH 1172,
    Muscat&Oman AH 1378 (1955). Quaiti AH 1358 (1935),  Zanzibar AH 1299 (1882).

1299 Y 8 BU  Dav 47 (1882) Paris Mint	1313 Y 13 XF Dav 48 Berlin mint (1895)
1320 Y 22 BU  Dav  49    London  mint	1321 Y 22 BU    Dav  49     Paris mint	1329 Y 25 BU    Dav  50   Struck  Paris
1331 Y33 BU Dav 51   Paris mint	1336 Y33 BU  Dav51  Paris mint	1376 Y 54 500 Francs 1956  Dav 53  (not part pf this series - but a nice coin)

    It took me 25 years to complete the Yemen Imadi / Ahmadi series.

    About 65-75% of Ahmadi Rials seem to be from 1373. These are frequently misidentified as "1367" - the ascension year which appears prominantly on all of Y-17 . The second loop of the "3" is frequently so weak that the coin  is identified as "1372". In my experience, a strong full "3" is more scarce than a "3" that looks like a "2" or "3/2".

    Over the years, I must have returned half a dozen misidentified coins before I finally purchased a "real" 1367 in 2005.  This is a natural mistake as "1367" appears on ALL of the coins in this series. I do not know if 1367 is scarcer than other years as several of these appear infrequently.
 
    Although these coins are invariably graded as "crude XF", on close inspection, I have yet to find any  evidence of wear, i.e. these pieces are invarialy mint  state.

   I conclude that these coins were not struck for circulation.

    If anyone has any information as to why these were struck, and whether they circulated, I would appreciate hearing from you. C0ntact - em@il me.

1344 Imadi Rial Y 7  Dav 352 (1926)	1367 Imadi Rial Y 17  Dav 353  (1948)	1370 Imadi Rial Y 17 Dav 353 (1951)
1371 Imadi Rial Y 17 Dav 353 (1952)	1373 Imadi Rial Y 17   Dav 353 (1954) (Weak "3rd loop of "3") Occasionally misidentified as 1372 or 1373/2	1373 Imadi Rial Y 17  Strong "3"  Dav 353 (1954) The  Strong "3" is not alll that clear!
1374 Imadi Rial Y 17   Dav 353 (1955)	1375 Imadi Rial Y 17 Dav 353 (1956)	1378 Imadi Rial Y 17   Dav 353 (1959)
1380 Imadi Rial Y 17   Dav 353 (1961)	1382 Imadi Rial Y 31   Dav 354 (1963)

  Iran

     Several (**)  of these were brought back from Iran where my father was stationed  in  WWII. (** likely candidates).
There are a number of recognixed raritites among the 31 type /date/mint and varities of the crown sized silver Ryales of the early 20th century. 

AH 1320 Dav 288 St.Petersberg mint KM 976	AH 1332  5 Rials Dav 291   KM 1088	** AH 1340  5 Rials Dav 291   KM 1088
AH 1342  5 Rials Dav 291   KM 1088	**SH 1306 5 Krans Dav 294  no mark    KM 1106	** SH 1306 "H" 5 Krans Dav 294  KM 1106
SH SH 1310 5 Rials Dav 295   KM 1131	SH 1311 5 Rials Dav 295   KM 1131	SH 1312 5 Rials Dav 295   KM 1131

  Egypt 

1293 + 10 dav 18	1293 + 20 (2)  Dav 18
1327 + 2  Dav   19	1327 + 3 Dav   19	1327 + 6   Dav   19 (2 pcs)
	Egypt Dav 20 1335 (1916) 20 Piastres	Egypt Dav 20 1335 (1917) 20 Piastres
1341 Dav 21 1341	1348 Dav 22 (1929)	1352  Dav 22 (1933)
1358  Dav 23	1375 Dav 24 (1956)	1384 Dav 26 (1964)

 Turkey  -

    This series is more attractive than is apparent from the pictures.  The standard catalogs
label the composition as "billion".  At least some of the earlier pieces  look and feel like
they have a large silver content. This, along with the large size, makes for an impressive
look and feel.

       I am surprised to find that in many cases, these coins have very little sign of circulation.
Perhaps they were buried shortly after they were issued.  A number have no encrustation
little wear and clean fields. Very impressive for  coins that were struck 250 years ago.

       I suspect there may be many unrecognized date rartites as well as rare types.

1106 DAV 317 1106 (1695)		1171 (11)82 Dav 327 (1768)
1171 Dav 327  1171 (11)86 Dav 327	1171 + 8 Dav 326	1171 (11)82 Dav 326
1187  Dav 331 1187 +11	1187 +11  Dav 332
1203 Dav  334 1203 + 2	1203 + 4 Dav  334	1203 + 5 Dav  334
1203 + 6 Dav  334	1203  +2  Dav  335	1203+15 Dav335
1203 + 20  Dav  334 (unlisted)
1223 Dav 338 1223 + 3	Dav 338  1223 + 5	1223 + 22  Dav 340
1223 + 23  Dav 340	1223 + 25  Dav 340	1223 + 26  Dav 340
1223 + 28  Dav 340	1223 + 29  Dav 340
1255    Dav 342		1327 +  9 Dav 347 (2)

Samanid  Multiple dirham     Nuh II ibn Mansur With Gov. Al Haruth ibn Narb;  976-997 A.D. 336-87 A.H.  Yumgan mint, ND  Mitchiner 731

SAMANIDS The exact origin of this dynasty is unclear.  By 819 A.D., come several Samanid princes became governors of torture of Transoxinia. Around 875  A.D., Nasar I b. Ahmad, attained an independence of sorts, but the Samanids never gave up their  formal allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate. The greatest extension of the empire was reached during the reign of Nasar II b. Ahmad (913 - 943 A.D.).  Several generals who exercised control over the kingdom and the king during the latter part of the 10th century are recorded on the coinage.  In 999 A.D., the Ilak Khan overran the kingdom, and divided it up among with the Ghaznavids.