Catalog
Unknown Æ - Uncertain Ruler Samarqand
| Issuer | Samarqand (ancient) |
|---|---|
| Year | 575-601 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bust of a female figure in three-quarter view facing left, rendered in the Sogdian artistic tradition. The hair is elaborately dressed and voluminous, framing the face in a style characteristic of late antique Central Asian coinage. The effigy is depicted with broad shoulders and stylized drapery, typical of Samarqand municipal coinage of the late 6th century. The overall execution is somewhat schematic, consistent with the hammered provincial bronze coinage of the region. The field is plain with no surrounding legend visible. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The central device features the distinctive tamgha (dynastic emblem) of Samarqand, rendered in bold relief in a schematic, trident-like form with characteristic bifurcated upper elements and a central downward projection. Fragmentary Sogdian script inscriptions appear flanking the tamgha on either side, though the legend is largely illegible due to the worn state of the flan. The design occupies the full field of the coin without a border. This reverse type is consistent with the municipal bronze coinage attributed to the rulers of Samarqand during the late Sogdian period. |
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| Additional information |
Samarqand in this period sat under loose Sasanian suzerainty while remaining governed by local Sogdian dynasts whose names are largely unrecorded in written sources. The attribution to Smirnova #26 places this within Olga Smirnova's foundational 1981 corpus of Sogdian coins, still the primary reference for this material despite decades of subsequent excavation — particularly from the Afrasiab site, which has yielded the bulk of comparative specimens. The issuing authority almost certainly held a title approximating "king" in Sogdian, but the ruler cannot be matched to any historically attested individual.