Seville AH 440 dinar
This specimen was lot 42492 in Stack's Bowers Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction (Pittsburgh, September 2026), where it sold for $6,710. The catalog description[1] noted, "ISLAMIC KINGDOMS. Abbadids. Taifas of Seville. Dinar, AH 440 (1048/9). Seville Mint (Al-Andalus). Al-Mu'tadid 'Abbad. NGC MS-63. A glistening Choice survivor of this RARE Abbadid type issued under the Taifa of Seville (1023-1091), which emerged following the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba. Al-Mu'tadid 'Abbad was the second of only three independent emirs of Seville in Al-Andalus, reigning from 1042-1069. In this period, he greatly expanded the territory of the Taifa of Seville by conquering a number of other Islamic taifas, including Mértola, Niebla, Huelva, Silves, and Santa María de Algarve. A controversial figure noted for both his cruelty and liberal policies, Al-Mu'tadid is said to have ordered the death of his own son and suffocated a delegation of Berber princes in a steam bath, but showed tolerance towards the Christian populace of Al-Andalus and fostered poetry and the arts. The present piece is a RARE Dinar from his reign that is made doubly desirable for its admirable Choice presentation, the surfaces awash with vivid luster and exhibiting an overall pleasing strike." Wikipedia comments,
"The Abbadid dynasty or Abbadids (Arabic: بنو عباد, romanized: Banū ʿAbbād) was an Arab dynasty...which ruled the Taifa of Seville in al-Andalus following the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. After the collapse, they were the most powerful Taifa and before long absorbed most of the others. Abbadid rule lasted from about 1023 until 1091, but during the short period of its existence it exhibited singular energy and typified its time."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.87 g, gold, this specimen 3.50 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-limonite, A-401 (R).
- 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 388 dirham, Hisham II
- Seville AH 467 dinar, Muhammad al-Mu'tamid
- Coins and currency dated 1048