ARAB-HEPHTHALITE, YAZID B. AL-MUHALLAB. Drachm

Obverse: Sasanian bust right, wearing helmet with ‘weather-vane’ crest; To right of bust, in Arabic: Yazid bin - al-Muhallab; In second and third quadrants of margin, in Arabic: bismillah – al-a‘zim.

Reverse: Standing figure facing wearing armour and helmet with ‘weather-vane’ crest streaming to right, holding spear vertically in right hand, left hand on pommel of sheathed sword which hangs to right; In field (in Pahlawi) ANBYR to left, date to right; In first and second quadrants of margin: Hephthalite legend (partly retrograde); In fourth and third quadrants of margin (in Arabic): duriba jizya bi-l – Juzjan. The pictorial elements on the reverse of this coin are a perfect mirror image of the standard arrangement.

The spear is in the left side of the field by the Pahlawi mint-name, and is held in the figure’s right hand, while the sword is in the right side by the Pahlawi date with the figure’s right hand resting upon the hilt. The crest of the helmet is to the right of the figure’s head, with the space to the left occupied by the head of the spear. With the coin legends, however, the situation is rather different. The first quadrant is largely obscured by the countermark, but in the second quadrant it is clear that the inscription has also been mirrored – this time horizontally, so the letters are written upside-down.

Allowing for differences in preservation, there are indeed indications that the obverse die was more worn by the time it was used to strike this coin, which goes some way to supporting this view.