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1 Hemidrachm Antiochos imitation, Samarqand
| Issuer | Samarqand (ancient) |
|---|---|
| Year | 101-201 |
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| Value | Hemidrachm (1/2) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Bearded male bust facing left in the style of Antiochos I Soter, rendered in a provincial Sogdian artistic tradition. The effigy displays radiate or dishevelled hair characteristic of local imitative coinage. An inscription in Sogdian script appears above and behind the bust within the field. The overall style reflects a degenerate imitation of Seleucid prototypes adapted to local Central Asian coinage conventions. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Sogdian |
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| Additional information |
These Samarqand imitations of Antiochos I Soterite hemidrachms circulated in Sogdia centuries after the Seleucid presence in Central Asia had dissolved, copied and recopied by local moneyers who had little interest in the original Greek prototypes beyond their established commercial credibility. By the second century AD the die-cutting had drifted substantially from the Seleucid originals, a degradation that Zeimal's classification attempts to sequence chronologically.
Senior's reference places this type within a broader Parthian-period imitative tradition across the region. The lightweight fabric — well under the standard Seleucid hemidrachm — reflects local silver availability and regional weight conventions rather than deliberate debasement.