A Mold for Gold or Silver Coins of the ‘Abbāsid Caliph al-Rāḍī: Caliphal Legitimacy, the Ḥamdānids and the Roots of Ikhshīdid Policy in Palestine and Syria

Abstract

In this article, I publish and discuss (one side of) a mold for casting coins naming the ‘Abbasid caliph
al-Rāḍī (reg. 322/934–329/940). Discussion of anomalous inscriptions on the mold. Conclusion
that the mold is probably not a forger’s object but comes from official sources and is intended
to cast genuine (possibly test) specimens. If correct, this interpretation calls for reassessment
of the origins of Ikhshīdid policies with regard to the caliphal institution in Baghdad and in
relation on one hand to the Ḥamdānids in Syria and on the other to the Fatimids in north Africa.