Iran AH 999 mithqal

Stephen Album sale 50, lot 451

This specimen was lot 451 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $660. The catalog description^[1] noted, "SAFAVID: 'Abbas I, 1588-1629, AV mithqal, Qazwin, AH999, bold strike, XF." The mithqal was a gold coin favored by the first Safavid shahs (Ismail I, Tahmasp I, Muhammad Khudabandah) but was superseded by the ashrafi during the reign of shah Abbas (1587-1629). This type was accompanied by a half mithqal (Fr-6c) and double mithqal (Fr-6a).

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 4.6 g, silver, this specimen 4.60 g.

Catalog reference: A-2627, Fr-6b.

Source:

• Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
• 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]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.

Link to:

• AH 987 (1579) mithqal, Qazvin mint
• AH 989 mithqal, Kashan mint
• (1588-95) ¼ mithqal, Yazd mint
• AH 999 ½ mithqal, Qazvin mint
• Coins and currency dated 1591