Took a little break to stretch my legs from my current Roman mission. Demand for these coins seems to fluctuate over time; I was lucky to catch it at a very low point. Won all of these for about $20.
All of these coins hail from the region of the Silk road called "chach" in antiquity, which today is located around Tashkent in Uzbekistan. The city came to prominence upon the opening of the Silk Road, being one of the few oases of civilization in a vast stretch of nothing but nomadic herders.
The entire region of Sogdia became the site of many of the world's wealthiest cities at the time. As such, and perhaps not surprisingly, the rulers in the region were mostly vassals to whichever empire offered protection and peace in exchange for a hefty tribute.
The historical context of these coins is vague at best, but they are believed to be a native issue minted between the decline of the Hepthalite empire in c. 600 and the Arab conquests of ca. 700.
Ruler "Nirtanak"
Three-quarters facing bust with Swastika to right
"Pitchfork" tamgha with Sogdian legend
Another example of the same with a slightly different portrait:
Ruler "Tudun Satachari"
Three quarters bust facing with hat and border of heavy dots
"Pitchfork" tamgha with Sogdian legend
Ruler "Nirt"
Facing bust with snazzy haircut
"Ladder" or square tamgha with Sogdian legend? (I couldn't find this legend in the scant few free online references)
This one is also attributed to Nirt, but is significantly larger and heavier, at about 25mm and 5g. If, as I have read, these are based off of the debased "drachms" from Bactrian Greek legacy, this may be one of the last tetradrachms ever made. I also couldn't help but notice how much the necklace looks like a Celtic torc!
Still a far shot from being a "collection" but now my lone "vanvan" Chach AE unit is no longer my only coin from this region!
Posted 02/15/2017 3:53 pm
