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!
Drachm Zabocho
| Issuer | Alchon Huns |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round (irregular) |
| 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 | King Zabocho depicted in right-facing profile as an equestrian figure, mounted on a horse advancing to the right; the ruler wears a distinctive elongated crown or headdress with ribbons, and is shown in draped attire characteristic of late antique Central Asian numismatic tradition. A tamgha or dynastic emblem appears in the upper right field, with additional symbols or attendant figures partially visible at the periphery. The composition is rendered in a bold, somewhat schematic hammered style typical of Alchon Hunnic coinage, with the horse and rider occupying the central field. A Brahmi legend reading 'shao shahano shao zabolo' (King of Kings, King of Zabulistan) is distributed around the field. |
|---|---|
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | 500 - Approximate Date |
| Additional information |
The Alchon Huns occupied the former Gupta territories of northwestern India and Bactria from roughly the late 4th century onward, and their coinage deliberately borrowed from Sasanian and Gupta monetary conventions to project legitimacy over populations accustomed to both. Zabocho — almost certainly a regional governor or sub-king rather than a paramount ruler — is among the lesser-documented figures in the Alchon sequence, and coins struck in his name are correspondingly scarce in institutional collections.
Mitchiner's AC#1572 attribution places this squarely within the silver drachm tradition the Alchons inherited from Sasanian prototypes circulating through the Kabul and Zabul regions.