New Coin, Hephthalites. Nezak Huns.

Beautiful coin, Paul!

Very nice! The obverse legend is nycky MLK-A in Pahlavi script which would have been pronounced "Nezak Shah". A peculiarity of the Pahlavi writing system was the custom of using Aramaic ideograms to represent Pahlavi (Middle Persian) words. An example is the word for "king," in Pahlavi shah, which was consistently written M-L-K after the Aramaic word for "king," malka, but read as shah. The meaning of the word "nezak" is lost but it was probably an honorific title amplifying "shah" rather than an ethnic or personal name. "Napki" is an earlier reading of nycky-"nezak". The Nezak Shahs ruled a large kingdom centered at Kapisi (near modern Bagram in Afghanistan). They came to power at the time that the previous masters of Kapisi, the Alchon Huns, moved into Gandhara (NW India). The origin of the Nezak Shahs is obscure but they may have first ruled in Ghazni (Zabulistan). They were not Hephthalites but were usually included under that rubric in earlier works. Their relationship to the Alchon is unknown but when the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang visited Kapisi in AD 629, he reported that the king wore a golden buffalo crown and that he was the 12th in an unbroken dynasty founded by a king named "Xingil". It is possible, but by no means certain, that this "Xingil" is the Alchon king Khingila known from the coins.

Your coin is a really fine example, Vondrovec [Göbl] 198, an unusual variety with the initial "ny" of "nycky" almost overlooked, just a tiny stroke at the shoulder near the dotted border. It was probably struck in the mid- to late 6th century, perhaps into the early 7th century.

You may find this article 'Coinage of the Nezak' by Klaus Vondrovec useful: https://www.academia.edu/880242/Coi...of_the_Nezak. Vondrovec is also the author of the current "standard reference" on Hunnic coins, Coinage of the Iranian Huns and their Successors from Bactria to Gandhara (2014), flawed, but the only attempt to date at a complete study in English. Vondrovec adapts Göbl's numbering system and includes additional material including many new types.

@echizento Yours is a nice example of the other major early Nezak type. Note the letter behind the head on obverse resembling Pahlavi "s" and compare to the letter in the same position on Palouche's coin, Pahlavi "a". Vondrovec dubs these "s-group" and "a-group", following Göbl in assigning the "s" coins to Ghazni and the "a" coins to Kapisi. Your coin is Vondrovec [Göbl] type 222 "late style".

It's worth noting that Pahlavi letters "a" and "s" are quite similar in basic form. Some have suggested that the "s" of type 222 is actually a variant letter "a" and that both may have been intended as the final "a" of MLKA (malka).

Nice coin!

That is a pretty sweet coin Paul!

As long as we are posting Nezak Hun Drachms, here is one of mine that I don't think I have posted to CCF previously. I have it attributed as a Göbl #200 and believe that it was minted in Kabul between 625 and 711 AD; however, I would be very happy for corrections/additional information from @KS or the rest of the hive.

Thanks for the comments guys...
As Ron said, and looking at other similar examples, the OP coins reverse isn't too bad at all...

Thanks for posting your coins Spence and Ron both are really nice examples! And because of this we have all learnt something about 3 types of this coin rather than just the Op coin....Great!

WOW KS...Thank you so much for spending your time clarifying the details..Really appreciated, and has cleared up a lot of queries I had.. I can now read the legend correctly which for me is an important part of any attribution...Will sit down this evening and read through the link you provided...Thanks again ...Paul

I have seen a few of these, where the obverse is better struck up, than the reverse.