Catalog
1 Drachm - Anonymous Alexander Imitation, Kashkadarya
| Issuer | Kashkadarya Valley |
|---|---|
| Year | 230 BC - 50 AD |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Drachm |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Degraded imitative bust of Hercules facing right, wearing the Nemean lion's skin headdress, rendered in a provincial barbaric style derived from the Alexander III tetradrachm prototype. The facial features, though coarsely executed, retain recognizable Hellenistic influence, with the lion's scalp knotted beneath the chin. The overall die work reflects local Central Asian engraving traditions overlaid upon the original Macedonian iconography. The field is flat and unadorned, with an irregular flan edge characteristic of local hammered coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Kashkadarya Valley — ancient Nautaka, a region of what is now southern Uzbekistan — produced a long series of anonymous imitations of Alexander III tetradrachms and fractions that continued circulating centuries after the Macedonian prototype had ceased to mean anything politically. These local silver pieces served the practical needs of an economy that had absorbed Greek monetary conventions through Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian intermediaries without ever quite being part of those states. The extreme date range reflects genuine scholarly uncertainty: die studies have not yet produced a tight chronology, and the types blur across generations of local authority.