Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Cash - Ramchitak Uncertain Sogdian mint, Eastern Sogdiana
| Issuer | Uncertain Sogdian mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 601-701 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 18 mm |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Round bronze cash-type coin featuring a central square perforation characteristic of Sogdian coinage of the 7th century. The obverse field bears a Sogdian inscription arranged around the central hole, reading 'r`mcytk bgy', translating as 'Ruler Ramchitak', identifying the issuing authority. The lettering is rendered in the cursive Sogdian script, distributed across the upper and lateral fields. The overall design is austere, with the legend serving as the primary decorative and identifying element. The surfaces exhibit characteristic casting texture consistent with hammered production from an eastern Sogdian mint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Sogdian square-holed cash imitations emerged from the network of merchant communities that dominated Central Asian trade between the Sasanian and Tang Chinese spheres — traders who adopted the Chinese cash format not from political submission but commercial pragmatism. Eastern Sogdiana in particular produced a chaotic proliferation of local mint output during the seventh century, as the region fragmented under pressure from the Arab conquests advancing from the west and Türk successor khanates pressing from the north. Smirnova's classification of this type acknowledges the attribution problem directly: the issuing mint remains unresolved.