ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Mardin). al-Muzaffar Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan. AH 658-693 / AD 1260-1294. Uncertain AH date. Sunface surrounded by thick rays within pelleted quadrate border; [mint formula and AH date in outer margins] / Kalima and Prophet benediction in four lines; name and titles of al-Muzaffar Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan in outer margin. 20mm, 1.78 grams. Mardin mint. Whelan –; S&S Type 50; Album 1836.2. 

The medieval figural copper coins of the Artuqids, Zangids, and other contemporary Islamic dynasties are among the most remarkable and unusual issues in Islamic numismatics. Their designs frequently borrowed from ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Persian coinage, reproducing classical busts, imperial portraits, mythological figures, astrological symbols and even the bust of Christ alongside Arabic inscriptions naming Muslim rulers and their titles. This extraordinary fusion of classical imagery and Islamic epigraphy produced a distinctive and often strikingly beautiful coinage, virtually unparalleled in the medieval Islamic world.