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1 Drachm - Anonymous Peroz imitation, Northern Tokharistan, Uncertain Sogdian mint, countermark
| Issuer | Uncertain Sogdian mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 501-601 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and crowned bust of the Sasanian king Peroz (or a local imitation thereof) facing right, rendered in a debased provincial style characteristic of post-Sasanian Sogdian and Tokharistani coinage. The effigy displays the distinctive winged crown associated with Peroz I. Two countermarks appear in the field: a retrograde tamgha of uncertain attribution, possibly associated with a Turkic ruler, and an applied Bactrian legend countermark, both applied over the original die-struck design. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Zoroastrian fire altar depicted centrally, with two attendant figures standing in adoration on either side, a composition derived directly from Sasanian royal coinage of Peroz I. The design is rendered in a noticeably debased and schematic manner consistent with local imitative production in Northern Tokharistan during the late 6th to early 7th century. The attendants flank the altar symmetrically, each facing inward toward the sacred flame. |
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| Additional information |
These anonymous imitations of Sasanian Peroz drachms circulated widely across Tokharistan and Sogdia following the catastrophic Hephthalite campaigns that killed Peroz I in 484 AD — a defeat so complete it temporarily ended Sasanian tribute collection east of the Oxus and created a monetary vacuum that local imitators rushed to fill. The countermark indicates secondary authorization by a regional authority, a common practice when no mint infrastructure existed to produce original issues.