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<p>[QUOTE="EWC3, post: 3236058, member: 93416"]Yes, interesting. I can only throw light on part of what you wrote. Note that the huge MZ II hoard – 3 tons of mostly silver coin – was started around the 5th century BC, but contained Soter Megas coppers, so was buried in Afghanistan after about 100 BC – well into Kushan times. So it looks a lot like the Kushans had silver in their territory – they just chose to mint only gold and copper.</p><p><br /></p><p>Actually, its clear too that the old Mauryan PMC’s were also still in use in Kushan times – probably lots of them. Very worn coins that had circulated maybe 300 years old seem to be rather common.</p><p><br /></p><p>Its easy to find this sort of evidence for hoarded metal in India. Another example comes from the time Timur (Tamerlane) sacked Delhi - in 1398. Around a century earlier the Delhi Sultan Ala-ud-din Muhammed had conquered most of India, and huge amounts of hoarded silver had been captured from Hindu temples and treasuries. Ala-ud-din struck it up mostly into 11g silver tankas. A century later, Delhi had lost its power, and hardly struck any coins at all. Yet Timur was astonished at the vast quantity of Ala-ud-din tankas he found still hoarded there. The coins are common enough today, and usually show very little wear. All hoarded.</p><p><br /></p><p>But its not just India, or olden times. In 1776, the year Adam Smith published Wealth of Nations, 100,000 ounces of silver was newly hallmarked for plate etc in England. Yet not a single ounce of silver went through the mint. Recall also, when in 1980 Bunker Hunt tried to corner the silver market, he totally failed to estimate the amount of silver there was out there.</p><p><br /></p><p>These sort of things (I could list many more) all make me worry when people argue simply that silver coinage ceased so the mines must have run out. Its clearly not that simple</p><p><br /></p><p>Rob T[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="EWC3, post: 3236058, member: 93416"]Yes, interesting. I can only throw light on part of what you wrote. Note that the huge MZ II hoard – 3 tons of mostly silver coin – was started around the 5th century BC, but contained Soter Megas coppers, so was buried in Afghanistan after about 100 BC – well into Kushan times. So it looks a lot like the Kushans had silver in their territory – they just chose to mint only gold and copper. Actually, its clear too that the old Mauryan PMC’s were also still in use in Kushan times – probably lots of them. Very worn coins that had circulated maybe 300 years old seem to be rather common. Its easy to find this sort of evidence for hoarded metal in India. Another example comes from the time Timur (Tamerlane) sacked Delhi - in 1398. Around a century earlier the Delhi Sultan Ala-ud-din Muhammed had conquered most of India, and huge amounts of hoarded silver had been captured from Hindu temples and treasuries. Ala-ud-din struck it up mostly into 11g silver tankas. A century later, Delhi had lost its power, and hardly struck any coins at all. Yet Timur was astonished at the vast quantity of Ala-ud-din tankas he found still hoarded there. The coins are common enough today, and usually show very little wear. All hoarded. But its not just India, or olden times. In 1776, the year Adam Smith published Wealth of Nations, 100,000 ounces of silver was newly hallmarked for plate etc in England. Yet not a single ounce of silver went through the mint. Recall also, when in 1980 Bunker Hunt tried to corner the silver market, he totally failed to estimate the amount of silver there was out there. These sort of things (I could list many more) all make me worry when people argue simply that silver coinage ceased so the mines must have run out. Its clearly not that simple Rob T[/QUOTE]
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