ADMINISTRATIONwhich made their first appearance in the twentieth year of Yazdagerd
Ill, were lighter than those minted by Khusraw Parviz. They were
called "full weight" (Ar. baghli) dirhams because they were supposed
to be equal to a mithqal (Ar. 4.25 grams) in weight, bl,l.t in fact their
average weight of 3.98 grams brings them closer to the general Sa-
sanian standard before the increase in weight under Khusraw Parviz.
Some individual coins were heavier, and, at 4.16 grams, two of them
even outweigh those of Khusraw.51
At first the Muslims simply reproduced the style of the Sasanian
coins. The Arab-Sasanian coins had the usual profile of Yazdagerd III
or Khusraw Parviz with their distinctive crowns and headdresses on
the obverse, with the afzut legend behind the head of the king and his
name in front. On the reverse was the Magian fire altar flanked by
two standing figures and the date beginning with twenty (M.P. vist)
written in Pahlavi script on the Yazdagerd-style coin. The usual pat-
terns of stars and crescents were in the margins on both sides. After
a year the imitations of the coins of Yazdagerd III were replaced by
those of Khusraw Pa"rviz, but they were dated in the era of Yazdagerd
III beginning with the year twenty-one (see Fig. 1e).S2
Several conclusions may be drawn from the striking of such coins
by the Islamic government. In the first place, it is apparent that the
reputation of the Sasanian monarchy survived the fall of the dynasty
as a useful guarantee of the weight and purity of coins. Secondly, it
is reasonable to suppose that the perpetuation of the types of coins
issued by these two monarchs was due to the continued employment
of the minters who knew how to make these coins. Perhaps the eventual
preference for copies of the coins of Khusraw Parviz may have been
due to the rather large number of his coins that were already in cir-
culation and to his reputation. Thirdly, the coins themselves provide
the best evidence for the early use of the era of Yazdagerd as a system
of dating, apparendy without any break after his death, and whoever
was responsible for the sequence of dates in that era, which appear
on these coins as late as the year sixty-two (A.H. 74/A.D. 693), prob-
ably knew their significance. Fourth, the use of dates in the era of
Yazdagerd implies an unwillingness, on the part of those who minted
the coins for their new rulers, to accept the formal legitimacy of Muslim
51 Miiwardi, al-AlJkiim as-sultiiniyya wa l-wiliiyiit ad-amiyya (Cairo, n.d.), pp. 76-
77; Miles, "Dirham," p. 319; Tabari, Ta'rikh, I, 2371, Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins,
pp. xxvi, xxxv, cxlvii, 1-2.
52 Paruck, Siisiinian Coins, p. 128; Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, pp. xv, xxvi-vii,
xxxvii. The coins of Hurmizd IV were also imitated.