A HOARD OF SASANIAN COINS FROM KAYNARBULAK (NEAR SHIMKENT, SOUTHERN KAZAKSTAN)

Abstract

Abstract. This discovery of a hoard of countermarked silver drachms of the Sasanian emperor Peroz, 457–484 CE, in an excavated context at Kaynarbulak, Shimkent, Kazakstan opens up a new perspective on coin circulation in the region. One of the coins was countermarked with the tamga of the kingdom of the Türgesh, who ruled this area in the eight century CE, suggesting that the coins were deposited in the eighth century three centuries after their production. It also adds to our understanding of the circulation of Peroz’s coins and their imitations across Central Asia and beyond into China and South Asia. The aim of this article is to list the coins in this hoard and to correct several misunderstandings of the countermarks on them.