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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 25838883, member: 81887&quot;][ATTACH=full]1647470[/ATTACH] </p><p>Semirech&#039;e region.&nbsp; c. 10th century CE (?).&nbsp; Qara Khitay (Western Liao)?&nbsp; AE cash.&nbsp; Obverse: &quot;Malik Aram Yinal Qaraj&quot; in Kufic Arabic script around central hole.&nbsp; Reverse: Blank.&nbsp; Album A1510P, Zeno 962.&nbsp; This coin: Stephen Album Auction 50, lot 4005 (part of group lot) (September 19-22, 2024). </p><p><br /></p><p>This coin type is rather mysterious, and the information on who issued it and when seems mostly based on conjecture.&nbsp; Based on known find spots, the type was likely issued in Semirech&#039;e (a region in what is now southeastern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan, near the western border of China).&nbsp; The shape is the standard &quot;cash&quot; style of cast round coin with central square hole, which originated in China but was also copied in surrounding areas of East and Central Asia.&nbsp; The inscription is in a late Kufic style of Arabic script and reads &quot;Malik Aram Yinal Qaraj&quot;, which is presumably the name of the ruler who issued the type; unfortunately, that name is unknown to history.&nbsp; Sources that mention this coin at all usually assign it to the Qara Khitay (also known as the Western Liao or Great Liao), a Mongol-derived dynasty which ruled in the Semirech&#039;e area from 1124 to 1218.&nbsp; However, the style of Kufic Arabic script used on the coin has been interpreted as implying an earlier date of issue.&nbsp; With so much uncertainty, there&#039;s not much more I can say about the coin, except that I find it interesting for the mixing of Arabic-derived and Chinese-derived styles.&nbsp; Please post any related coins you have, or let me know if you have any additional information.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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