A Catalogue of ‘Abbasid Copper Coins.

“For a long time I have had the wish to see the Abbasid copper coins fully catalogued and published; much has been written about Umayad Copper, but little has been published about the Abbasid copper to date. It is the Byzantine follies that had the most important influence on Abdul Malik's Post Reform (copper) falls which resulted in the extensive publications of the Umayad fulus but lamentably no attempt at a comprehensive study of Abbasid copper coins has so far been made and no comprehensive catalogue of the extant Abbasid fulus has so far been published. Of the Abbasid copper coins the least has been written. Numismatists and historians are indebted to Henry Lavoix, Stanley Lane-Poole, George Miles, Abdul Rahman and Abraham Udovitch for the extant well known works on Abbasid copper coins. It is the time to put their works together, fill in the gaps and assess the whole anew. It is with a view to produce such a study and publish a somewhat complete collection that this book is made. It is not reasonable to claim that my list is one hundred percent complete, but I am satisfied that it reflects a very high percentage of the output of the Abbasid mints in the Islamic world. It has also been impossible to illustrate every specimen. Yet in order to appreciate the smallest details of their style, selected pieces have been shown in enlargement”. [from the author].