COINS . CHINA – CENTRAL ASIA, SILK ROAD. Sogdian Cash. Semireche’e (Jety-su), Unidentified Ruler of Tukhus (c.730s-750): Copper Cash, 0.97g, Sogdian legend, Rev tamga in shape of trident, Sogdian legend (Sm 1625ff). About very fine and rare.
First issued in Western Sogd (Bukhara and Samarqand) in the mid-7th Century, these Chinese-style coins, with a square central hole, were the dominant coinage in many regions of Sogd until the early 8th Century. The Tang legend “kaiyong tonbao” is reproduced on the earliest Sogdian issues. At some time later, Sogdian “cash” coins appeared bearing the titles and names of a Sogdian ruler as well as different tamgas.
Estimate: US$200-250