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<p>[QUOTE="Parthicus, post: 7870596, member: 81887"]Here's another coin I won this year:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1355760[/ATTACH] </p><p>Hephthalites in Northern Tokharistan, Kobadian. AR/billon drachm (30 mm, 2.78 g). Anonymous, c. 650-720 AD. Obverse: Bust right derived from Sasanian coin of Peroz, tamghas to left and right, Bactrian legend at bottom, at 10:00 countermark G-73 (human head left). Reverse: Derived from standard Sasanian reverse of fire-altar with two attendants; at 7:00 countermark Kob3 (camel). Gobl 289, cf. Zeno 46036. This coin: Stephen Album Internet-only Auction 9 (aka Auction 509), lot 22 (April 12, 2021), ex Jim Farr collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is very little historical information associated with this coin that I could find. Kobadian (also spelled Kobadien in some sources) was an ancient Bactrian city, no longer in existence, probably located at the site of modern Kalai-Mir in the Tadzhik SSR (modern Tajikistan), according to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia of 1979. And... that's the entire entry in the Encyclopedia. (There is also a modern town called Kobadian, in Mali, West Africa, but it seems to be just a coincidental name.) There is a fairly recent (2011) publication on these coins, but it is written in Russian, which unfortunately I don't read. The Hephthalites (aka White Huns) ruled an area in Central Asia from the 5th to 8th centuries AD, but relatively little is known of their culture and history; the Wikipedia article ( <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephthalites" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephthalites" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephthalites</a> ) seems to me to be a good summary of what we do understand. Most Hephthalite coins bear designs derived from Sasanian precursors, and this fits very well into that pattern. The use of tamghas (clan/tribe identity symbols used by many ancient and medieval Central Asian groups), Bactrian script, and countermarks are also typical for Hephthalite coins. Even without detailed history behind it, I still like this coin for its interesting design and for the few bits of cultural and historical background that we do know. Please post whatever coins you have that are related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Parthicus, post: 7870596, member: 81887"]Here's another coin I won this year: [ATTACH=full]1355760[/ATTACH] Hephthalites in Northern Tokharistan, Kobadian. AR/billon drachm (30 mm, 2.78 g). Anonymous, c. 650-720 AD. Obverse: Bust right derived from Sasanian coin of Peroz, tamghas to left and right, Bactrian legend at bottom, at 10:00 countermark G-73 (human head left). Reverse: Derived from standard Sasanian reverse of fire-altar with two attendants; at 7:00 countermark Kob3 (camel). Gobl 289, cf. Zeno 46036. This coin: Stephen Album Internet-only Auction 9 (aka Auction 509), lot 22 (April 12, 2021), ex Jim Farr collection. There is very little historical information associated with this coin that I could find. Kobadian (also spelled Kobadien in some sources) was an ancient Bactrian city, no longer in existence, probably located at the site of modern Kalai-Mir in the Tadzhik SSR (modern Tajikistan), according to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia of 1979. And... that's the entire entry in the Encyclopedia. (There is also a modern town called Kobadian, in Mali, West Africa, but it seems to be just a coincidental name.) There is a fairly recent (2011) publication on these coins, but it is written in Russian, which unfortunately I don't read. The Hephthalites (aka White Huns) ruled an area in Central Asia from the 5th to 8th centuries AD, but relatively little is known of their culture and history; the Wikipedia article ( [URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephthalites[/URL] ) seems to me to be a good summary of what we do understand. Most Hephthalite coins bear designs derived from Sasanian precursors, and this fits very well into that pattern. The use of tamghas (clan/tribe identity symbols used by many ancient and medieval Central Asian groups), Bactrian script, and countermarks are also typical for Hephthalite coins. Even without detailed history behind it, I still like this coin for its interesting design and for the few bits of cultural and historical background that we do know. Please post whatever coins you have that are related.[/QUOTE]
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