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1 Drachm Kushan Imitative type
| Issuer | Kushan Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 100-300 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse depicts a standing deity, likely a Kushan divine figure such as Ardoxsho or a similar deity, rendered in crude imitative style in the field. To the right, a schematic tamgha or subsidiary symbol is discernible. The overall execution is highly degenerate, consistent with a locally produced imitative coinage that echoes the iconographic conventions of official Kushan issues while exhibiting significant degradation in die engraving quality. |
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| Mintage | ND (100-300) |
| Additional information |
The Kushan Empire's copper imitative drachms occupy an awkward taxonomic space — struck locally to replicate earlier Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian silver prototypes, but in base metal and at reduced weight, suggesting these served populations where genuine silver coinage was scarce or hoarded. The broad date range reflects genuine scholarly uncertainty; attribution within the Kushan series remains contested, with Mitchiner's own sequencing revised repeatedly since the first edition of Ancient and Classical World.
Die-cutting quality varies sharply across the type, with some specimens showing confident engraving and others clearly copied at one or more removes from the original prototype.