Silk Road. Pre-Islamic Buddhist Lost Civilisation

Thank you. I have 2 of the 6 Zhu (Drachms) of Khotan but they are all in poor condition unfortunately.

 

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oh wow, that's pretty darn cool! what is the symbol in the middle of the reverse of the OP? somewhat heart shaped.

 

That's a Tamgha. A royal seal of the kingdom. A very common characteristic of central Asian civilisations

 

Wow what a score!

 

Thanks

 

Oh man! That is a coin that I wanted for a loooong time. Nearly impossible to find.

 

You're familiar with this coin @Quant.Geek ?

 

Yep. Khotan was the last enclave to use Kharosthi before it died out. It had been extinguished in Ghandara by that time and was replaced with Brahmi. Here are some references that will come in handy:

Cribb, J., The Sino-Kharosthi Coins of Khotan - Part 1, Numismatic Chronicles
Cribb, J., The Sino-Kharosthi Coins of Khotan - Part 2, Numismatic Chronicles
Fang, Jiann-Neng et al.,Sino-Kharosthi and Sino-Brahmi Coins from the Silk Road of Western China Identified with Stylistic and Mineralogical Evidence, Geoarchaeology: An International Journal

PM for the third article as I don't think I can attach a PDF file to this thread.

 

Thanks @Quant.Geek .. it's an excellent read

 

As a collector of Chinese coins, I think I need to have one if these.

Quick question: does it actually fall into the 24 zhu standard (~12g)? Or is the weight unit a hodgepodge of standards?

 

It's close.. although I wouldn't say exact.. it does follow closely to the Greek standard.

 

Wow very nice!

 

or perhaps other measures...
http://history.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Hansen Place of Coins (Eng).pdf

 

Many thanks to my dear friend Derek for sending me such an interesting paper. Silk Road rocks!

 

I may be a little late to the party, but that doesn’t mean that my praises are worth any less, for these coins are absolutely stunning! I have seen a couple of these coins pass by, but the condition is generally much worse than these, yet the price is still incredibly steep. Congrats on these coins! They beautifully highlight an underrepresented area of both Chinese history and numismatics, and besides that, they are just a pleasure to look at. Any coin with two different scripts is a good one in my book!

I too am a huge Sir Aurel Stein fan. I decided that I, now that I am actually studying archaeology, and seeing as I am a bit of a bibliophile, need an original publication of his. It should be arriving soon…

 

Many thanks @AnYangMan . Similar to yourself, I am particularly interested in coins that reflect a strong multicultural and multilingual roots. Thus to me the Silk Road is one of the best representations of the theme. Particularly the pre Islamic silk road is particularly interesting as it was a true melting pot between East and west

 

Here is a trilingual pre-Islamic Silk Road coin, struck by the Western Turks following the style of the Sasanians and the Huns. It has inscriptions Brahmi, Pehlevi and Baktrian.


Western Turk Rulers in Kabulistan/Zabulistan, c.700-750 AD. 3.3 grams, 32 mm "Vakku Deva"/"Sandan"/"Pangul". Drachm. Silver with gold plug area of neck.
Obv: Brahmi legend: VAKHUDEVAH; SRI VAJARA or sri candana vakhudevah (“His Perfection Candana, Lord of the Oxus”); Bactrian (outside) legend: CPI BOGO OZPOBOOI GO CONOONO BOGO XOOOHO “His Perfection, the Lord, the Chiliarch Sandano, His Perfection, the Lord”; Bust with winged lion's head-crescent moon crown
Rev: Bactrian legend: CPI BOGO OOHBO BOGOOI PO KOGONO COI BOGI “His Perfection, the Lord, his Majesty, the Bactrian Kagan, his Perfection, the Lord”; Pahlavi: 'pzwn'; P'' shmr't “increase”…”from Glory..”; Fire altar flanked by two attendants; star and crescent flanking flames.

Unknown countermark symbol (dot and crescent?)

 

Gorgeous piece @Ed Snible ! Even more languages!

 

WOW WOW WOW ! Trilingual !! Class, I want one !!!

 

Is the "gold-dot" normal in these coinage?