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Unknown Æ - Rakhanch Without cross

Issuer Ustrushana, Principality of
Year 601-725
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Weight 1.83 g
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Obverse description Facing bust of a ruler depicted frontally in the field, wearing an elaborate stepped crown or headdress adorned with a crescent and pellet ornament at the apex. The face is rendered in a schematic but expressive style characteristic of Central Asian coinage of the early medieval period, with large almond-shaped eyes, a broad nose, and a prominent chin. The bust is framed by a beaded border around the coin's periphery. The overall style reflects the Sogdian artistic tradition prevalent in the Ustrushana principality during the 7th–early 8th century.
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Reverse script Sogdian
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Additional information

Ustrushana occupied the Zeravshan valley north of Sogdia, a minor but strategically positioned principality that maintained its own bronze coinage well into the Islamic period. The Rakhanch type — named for the local rulers' title rather than a place — belongs to a poorly documented sequence that Smirnova catalogued only partially; Zeimal left this specific variant unnumbered, meaning it fell outside even his systematic attempt to impose order on the chaotic pre-Islamic bronzes of Central Asia. The absence of a cross distinguishes it from the commoner variant and likely signals a different phase of production or a separate issuing authority within the principality's fractured administrative structure.

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