$100 to spend on coins of non-classical cultures

Searched for "Shahis" on CT today and was pleasantly surprised to find it being discussed on one of today's posts. This mornings purchase with dealer photo.

India Kabul Shahis(Shahiyas) Spalapati Deva 750-900 AR Jital Tye 5

 

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That is a decent coin! Some would prefer one with no wear but I prefer well struck with clear devices like this one. I was spoiled by good fortune on early purchases but finding these any better than this will be tough. They are good metal, well produced and have interesting types on both sides. They are a bit late to be strictly 'ancient' but make a series I believe more people might enjoy.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/bh.html

Does anyone have a decent specimen of the bronzes from this series? Mine are poorly struck.

 

My main collecting area is broadly "Pre-Islamic and early Islamic Persia", which covers quite a lot of ground. You've got your Achaemenids, like this AR siglos from the time of Darius I:

The Parthians, like my avatar coin, a tetradrachm of Artabanos IV (c.10-38 AD):

The Sasanians or Neo-Persian dynasty, such as this obol of Ardashir I (c.224-241 AD):

And this charming "Arab-Sasanian" (early Islamic, but using designs carried over from the Sasanians) bronze coin:

 

I'm kind of surprised that no-one has yet posted any Chinese coins to this thread, so I guess I'll go ahead. Here's several different coins issued during the reign of the Han usurper Wang Mang (9-22 AD). He made sweeping reforms (including several complete overhauls of the currency, resulting in many different and abundant coin types), his story is well worth reading. (Spoiler: It didn't end well for him, or for lots of other people.) Here's a few different types that I have collected:

 

Over $100 but you could get a drachm from Elymais.



ELYMAIAN KINGDOM: Kamnaskires-Orodes
Elymaian Kingdom: Kamnaskires-Orodes. Early-mid 2nd century A.D. AE tetradrachm (29 mm, 15.18 g). Bearded facing bust, wearing diadem with tuft of hair on top of head; in right field, star-in-crescent above anchor; small pellet between anchor and hair / Dashes. Van’t Haaff 12.1, subtype 1-3D; Alram 481.

 

Interesting coins. I don't really seek out the non-Graeco-Roman stuff, but sometimes they come my way. There is a lot of interesting material out there and I'd like to learn more.

Just this week, if you don't mind ugly, here is what a $2 Kushan tet looks like from eBay (from a lot). It took me a long, long time to come up with its iffy attribution:


Kushan Kingdom Æ Tet.
Vasudeva (?)
(c. 200-225 A.D.)
[þA]O...], king standing facing, holding trident, sacrificing [at altar at left] / Two-armed Oesho (Shiva) standing facing, holding trident, diadem, Bull Nandi left,
[OηþO, tamgha at right]
Göbl 1000; MAC 3407-08
(16.20 grams / 25 mm)
eBay May 2021 Lot @ $2.00

Attribution Notes:
Vasudeva attribution based on guessing at what is left of the legends and figures.
Vashiska issued similar types, but seem cruder (!) than this one.
Göbl 1010; MAC 3533.

 

I somehow or another got sucked into Indian coins - probably because of how gosh darned affordable they are! I have a 2" binder smack full of them, and only a handful of them are even worth more than $50, let alone $100. Some favorites that are easy on the budget

A pre-Mauryan large module karshapana of Magadha, Series III struck over an older Series II, both completely plastered with banker's marks


A coin of the great Mauryan empire - this Karshapana has three figures (gingerbread men) on it which makes it special and sought after - before quarantine it was possible to buy more ordinary specimens on ebay for ~$5 all day long.


An oft-overlooked major power in Central India - the Satavahanas (anonymous potin karshapana in the name of Satakarni)


A post-Mauryan wad of copper issued by local banking powers in Taxila - Slightly less common issue with a horse, showing already strong Greek influences


The first Indo Greek drachm - Apollodotus I


An Indigenous Indo Greek drachm - Amoghabhuti who lived in about the 2nd century BC and is known only from these coins


After the Greeks come the Scythians - Azes, sometimes claimed to have probably imaginary connections to the Biblical Magi


Indo-Parthians - Gondophares, also with slightly more credible Biblical connections


Then another invasion from the Yueh-Chi from eastern Central Asia - Sapadbizes billon hemidrachm


Post-confederation Kujula Kadphises as king of the Kushans - but imitating a 1st century Roman coin of Augustus/ Tiberius.

 

I've always been been fond of the coins of the 8th-century Turgesh Khaganate. The coins are Chinese in style but bear a Sogdian inscription translating "coin of the majestic Turgesh khagan". The reverse features the Turgesh tamgha. These coins were considered extremely rare when I first encountered them some 20 years ago. They are more available today. The Turgesh were a Turkic tribal confederation who established a short-lived state in what now Khazakstan, between the Chinese Tang Empire in the east and the Arab Caliphate in the west.

 

So did I , when I found one I added it to my collection, it cost me a bit more than your budget but it is in beautiful condition.

Islamic Dynasties, Zengids of Mosul: Nasir al-Din Mahmud AE dirhem, 616-631 AH (1219 - 1234 AD)

8.05gm, struck 627 AH (1229-1230 AD) in Mosul, 26.0mm. Obv: Crowned female figure personifying the moon seated facing with legs crossed, holding crescent; date in fields. Rev: Shahada and name and titles of Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir in five lines across fields; name and titles of Nasir al-Din Mahmud in outer margin. Mitchiner WOI 1129; SS 67.