Unknown Æ Termez, with cross

Termez, situated on the Oxus (Amu Darya) at a major crossing point into Bactria, was a Buddhist and Kushano-Sasanian commercial hub before the Arab conquest brought it under Umayyad control in the late 7th century. The cross appearing on civic bronzes from this region likely reflects residual Christian — possibly Nestorian — mercantile presence alongside Buddhist communities, rather than any issuing authority's own confession. The two-century attribution window reflects the genuine difficulty of sequencing these civic issues without hoard context.