Owner Comments:
1243/44 AD. Under Abu-Ahmad 'Abdallah al-Musta'sim billah, المستعصم بالله أبو أحمد عبد الله بن المستنصر بالله; 1213 – February 20, 1258). He was the 37th and last Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate; he ruled from 1242 until his death. Struck at Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad) mint. 6.64 grams.
Baghdad was sacked on February 10, 1258, and this caliph was killed by Hulagu Khan soon afterward. It is reckoned that the Mongols did not want to shed "royal blood", so they wrapped him in a rug and trampled him to death with their horses. Some of his sons were massacred as well; one of the surviving sons was sent as a prisoner to Mongolia, where Mongolian historians report he married and fathered children, but played no role in Islam thereafter.
The Travels of Marco Polo reports that upon finding the caliph's great stores of treasure which could have been spent on the defense of his realm, Hulagu Khan locked him in his treasure room without food or water, telling him "eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it."
Says Heritage Auctioneer: "An absolutely gorgeous display of the elegance of the final period of Abbasid coinage prior to the Mongol onslaught, the surfaces clean and bright and the calligraphy well-formed and free of unevenness.
Ex. Pars Coins (sold with old lot tag). A-275, ICV-474, cf. Kazan-211 (different date)."
The Round City of Baghdad is the original core of Baghdad, built by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur in 762–766 CE as the official residence of the Abbasid court. Its official name in Abbasid times was The City of Peace (Arabic: مدينة السلام , romanized: Madīnat as-Salām. But when the Mongols came to town, the name didn't hold true.