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Hovén 1982, Ninth Century Dirham Hoards From Sweden
Hovén 1982, Ninth Century Dirham Hoards From Sweden
Hovén 1982, Ninth Century Dirham Hoards From Sweden
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Journal of Baltic Studies
* = Sasanian
■ = Arab-Sasanian
* = Umayyad
□ = 'Abbāsid
* = Tãhirid
o = Idrīsid
° = Spanish Umayyad
o = Aghlabid
A = Kharijīte Imäm
s = Saffárid
* = Rebel
The first hoard to be considered is by far the largest. It comes from Eskedalen
in the parish of Loftahammar, Smâland, on the coast of the Baltic (RCC, Inven-
tory Number 5872). This hoard contained 2,001 coins. They were distributed
among the following dynasties: 3 Sasanian, 2 Arab-Sasanian, 152 Umayyad,
1 Rebel, 1,578 'Abbāsid, 4 Idrfsid, 2 Kharijīte Imām, 1 Aghlabid, 1 Tãhirid (it
is worth while noting that Tornberg attributed all coins struck in Iran and east-
wards after 820 as Tãhirid while recent opinion, which I follow here, classifies
them as 'Abbāsid unless they specifically carry the name or title of a Tãhirid
prince), 79 undetermined, 35 blank flans, and 143 unspecified pieces. All infor-
mation on this hoard is taken from Tomberg's manuscript. The earliest and
latest datable coins are from 619 and 865, respectively. Out of a total of 2,001
coins, not more than 623 specimens (31.1%) have been dated exactly; i.e.,
every part of the year of striking was legible to Tornberg (the rest were fragments
or obliterated or both). The chart for Hoard 1 shows the distribution in time of
those 623 coins, clearly revealing three or four frequency peaks. Three were
NOTES