As some of you may know my Bday was yesterday and I posted the Archaic Gandhara double siglos, one of two coins that arrived yesterday. The other coin is a type I have been looking out for. Noticing that Nezak coinage seems to be the most plentiful of the Hunnic coins of the region, I figured I could get a "good" one.
I have been trying to assemble a kind of "one of each" Ancient/ Medieval type set. The past two years I have been concentrating on may of the empires and cultures that populated Asia in those eras. In many cases history has forgotten the names of denominations, kings, people, locations, origins and chronological placements of these specimens. All of which I find fascinating.
I was able to locate a particular example of Gobl Hunnic # 236
mentioned in Klaus Vondrovec's paper Coinage of the Nezak. Vondrovec, mentions this as stylistically Alchon Hun, Nezak Hun, but minted under Turko-tribal authority right around AD 700. These coins are minted by Buddhist / Hindu nomads for western China during the opposition to the Arab Invasion. This is the supposed coin of the the father of Phromo Kesaro the Turko-Hunnic King who countermarked coins Caesar of Rome.
Alchon, Turk,Nezak Confederation
Afghanistan, Kapisa-Kabul mint
AR Drachm 28 mm x 2.92 grams (AD 680-700)
Obverse:Unknown tribal leader (Shahi Tigin?)left wearing radiant crown, Tamgha left field. Cursive Bactrian Greek - CPIO FAUIO.
Revers: Zoroastrian fire altar with two attendants. Unknown mark on reverse. (letter)
ref# Gobl Hunnic: 236
Posted 02/08/2015 6:35 pm
