Western Turks Under Sandan Vaku Deva: A Pair Of Counterstamped, Bimetallic Drachms (Ca 680-720)

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Spence Moderator United States 32953 Posts	Posted 05/02/2025 4:18 pm As with so much of my collection of coins from the early medieval and dark ages, I find something new to me, only to discover that it is has been well-discussed here on CCF. To whit, see @ancientnoob's original post from 2013 and then @finn235's follow-up thread when they picked up an example of this coin several years later: https://goccf.com/t/139579 https://goccf.com/t/313641 These coins are interesting on multiple fronts beyond their age: trilingual inscriptions (Brahmi, Bactrian and Pahlavi), plus many have been contemporaneously counterstamped and up-valued with with a small gold plug. The two known counterstamps were described by Mitchiner and include #103, which is a three-sided rectangular gate (a "thunderbolt") and #104, which is a line segment with opposing arrows (a "balance"). Much is speculative about these pieces, with various sources spelling the leader's name differently and slight variations in the dating. In any case, I'm pretty glad to have added these to my collection along with a variety examples from other post-Sasanian dynasties. They are attributed as Göbl 244, MACW 1562, and Sunrise 1037, but here are a few acsearch, Zeno, and numista links for those who want more information and to see further examples: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=12310223 https://www.zeno.ru/search.php?searchid=187242 https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=81166 https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces80272.html Here are two of the Drachma that I picked up. These show the gold plug (typically found on the ruler's neck) and counterstamps (typically found below the bust) particularly well: "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff

jbuck Moderator United States 162469 Posts	Posted 05/02/2025 4:26 pm Very nice! Coin Collector Since 1978 My Avatar My Old Avatar My 7070 My Eisenhower Dollars CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Hondo Boguss Bedrock of the Community United States 18283 Posts	Posted 05/02/2025 5:30 pm Fantastic coins, Spence! Thank you for the numismatic education, too. Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures Report this Post to the Staff
tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7098 Posts	Posted 05/04/2025 05:56 am Interesting how long that fire altar motif persistend on coins in this part of the world. And to see what was going on in a different part of the world when Western coinage was just emerging from a couple of centuries long downturn. Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 32953 Posts	Posted 05/04/2025 2:50 pm Thx all! "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Novicius Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 1144 Posts	Posted 05/09/2025 9:11 pm Interesting coins and write-up, plus the rather novel way of up-valuing the coins. Thanks for sharing. Report this Post to the Staff
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