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1/2 Bisti anonymous Sun with face
| Issuer | Kartli, Kingdom of (1490-1762) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1679-1680 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Bisti |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central device depicting a radiant sun with a human face in full relief, rendered in a stylized, archaic manner characteristic of Georgian copper coinage of the late 17th century. The solar disc is surrounded by alternating straight and wavy rays extending to the periphery of the flan. The facial features — eyes, nose, and beard — are boldly incised in a naive artistic style. The field is plain, with no legend or border. The flan is irregular and slightly ragged at the edges, consistent with hammered production. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ١٠٩٠ ضرب فليس تفليس (Translation: 1090 Struck Fulus Tiflis) |
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| Additional information |
The bisti was a Georgian copper denomination whose name derived from the Persian "pul," reflecting the layered monetary influences pressing on Kartli from the south and east throughout the seventeenth century. By 1679, the kingdom was operating under persistent Safavid suzerainty following Shah Abbas I's devastation of Tbilisi in 1616, and anonymous copper issues of this type — carrying no ruler's name — were likely a deliberate response to that political pressure, allowing circulation without explicit attribution to a Georgian sovereign.
Anonymous copper from Kartli is notoriously difficult to sequence; KM# 109 sits in a cluster of undated or loosely dated types assigned to a two-year window by die study rather than documentary evidence.