Al-Andalus AH 117 dirham
This specimen was lot 1306 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 39 (Winter Park, FL, May 2026), where it sold for $960. The catalog description[1] noted, "SPAIN (Al-Andalus), Umayyads, Governors (dependent emirate of Damascus), AR dirham, post-reform type of Abd al Malik, AH117 (735 AD), mint of al Andalus الأندلس, very rare, NGC AU details / cleaned, ex-Tonegawa, Frochoso Plate. Choice luster with faint hairlines in fields, full inscriptions, traces of toning, particularly rare in this state of preservation. NGC #8437663-002. Pedigreed to the Tonegawa Collection (stated on label), Auction III (Aureo & Calicó 453, June 2025, lot 10), and plated in El Dirham Andalusí en el Emirato de Córdoba (2009), by Rafael Frochoso Sánchez." An Arab army invaded Visigothic Spain in 711 AD and, finding little resistance, quickly conquered the whole peninsula except the northernmost mountains. Their attempts to also take France were defeated at the battle of Toulouse in 721 AD and again at the battle of Poitiers in 732. The Umayyad caliphate in Syria collapsed in 750 AD and a refugee prince, Abd al-Rahman, arrived in Spain in 755 AD and soon established himself as overlord of Spain. This dirham was struck while Spain was still nominally part of the Syrian caliphate.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 2.88 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-473, Vives-31; Frochoso-1.3 (this coin).
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing, Connor Falk and Sarah Sproles, Auction 39, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, featuring the Jorge Ugaz Collection of Lima Silver Cob 2 Reales and the Darby Collection of Guatemala Silver Cobs, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2026.
Links to:
- al-Andalus AH 110 dirham, Umayyad governors
- Cordoba AH 190 dirham, Al Hakam I
- Coins and currency dated 735