Cordoba AH 358 dinar
This specimen was lot 42491 in Stack's Bowers Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction (Pittsburgh, September 2026), where it sold for $4,148. The catalog description[1] noted, "ISLAMIC KINGDOMS. Umayyads of Spain. Dinar, AH 358 (968/9). Cordoba (Madinat al-Zahra) Mint. Al-Hakam II. NGC MS-62. Impressive lustrous, this appealing Dinar is beautifully lustrous, and boldly struck on a large flan, leaving nothing wanting in terms of sharpness in the inscriptions." 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 dinar was struck for Al-Hakam II (961-76), second caliph of Cordoba. Madinat al-Zahra was a fortress and palace complex built outside of Cordoba, now an archeological site.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold.
Catalog reference: Cayón-484, A-351; Vives-469.
- Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
- 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.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2026.
Link to:
- Cordoba AH 337 dirhem, Abd al-Rahman III al-Nasir
- Cordoba AH 388 dirham, Hisham II
- Coins and currency dated 968