Item number: A3508

Year: AD 659-709

Material: Bronze

Size: 22.6 x 22.3 x 1.3 mm

Weight: 3.2 g

Manufactured by: Bukhara Mint

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin is believed to have been cast in the kingdom of An, located in the Transoxiana region.

Its form follows the traditional style of the Chinese cultural sphere, namely the round coin with a central square hole. The obverse bears the inscription “Kaiyuan tongbao” in a script combining clerical and seal forms, to be read from top to bottom, right to left. The calligraphy imitates the style of the early Tang period, though the characters are blurred. A corroded dot appears on the lower left side of the character “Kai”, though it is unclear whether this was intentionally engraved by the artisan.

Beneath the square hole, there appears to be a symbol, though the worn state of the coin renders it difficult to identify. In general, coins minted by the Sogdians in Transoxiana bore clan emblems (Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga) on the field. Some of these emblems are said to have derived from simplified forms of the suspended-needle style characters found on Wang Mang’s “Huoquan” coins, possibly because the Wang Mang era marked the period when Chinese coinage types first spread widely to Central Asia. Other scholars suggest that these symbols may have originated from Zoroastrian or Nestorian motifs. In later issues, the coin fields occasionally contained Sogdian inscriptions denoting royal names or titles.

The kingdom of An was one of the Sogdian city-states, situated in the western part of Transoxiana (modern-day southwestern Uzbekistan). In the Tang period it was regarded as one of the “Nine Surnames of Zhaowu” or “Nine Surnames of the Hu”. Its people often adopted the state name “An” as their surname when travelling in Chinese territory, the most famous example being An Lushan. Despite the name “Nine Surnames”, these were neither limited to nine polities nor constituted by a single ethnic group. The origins of the Sogdians can likely be traced back to remnants of the Da Yuezhi, who, after being defeated by the Xiongnu, gradually merged with surrounding peoples such as the Turks.

In AD 630, during the fourth year of Emperor Taizong’s Zhenguan reign, the Tang generals Li Jing and Li Ji destroyed the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, thus extending Tang influence into Central Asia. In AD 638, An sent its first tribute mission to the Tang court. In AD 659, during Emperor Gaozong’s reign, the Tang defeated the Western Turkic Khaganate and brought the Zhaowu Nine Surnames under their loose control, appointing the ruler of An as Prefect of Anxi Province, subordinated to the Anxi Protectorate General. Benefiting from their geographical position and commercial expertise, the Sogdians acted as intermediaries along the Silk Road, establishing communities in Chang’an, Luoyang, and other Chinese cities, and gradually obtaining positions within the Tang military and administrative systems.

In AD 709, during the third year of Emperor Zhongzong’s Jinglong reign, Qutayba ibn Muslim, general of the Umayyad Caliphate (then known as the “White-clothed Arabs”) and governor of Khurasan, conquered An’s capital, Bukhara (known in Chinese sources as Buhe), bringing an end to the kingdom.

物件編號: A3508

年代: 公元 1905-1912 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 22.6 x 22.3 x 1.3 mm

重量: 3.2 g

製造地: 布哈拉

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚應為河中地區的安國所鑄的開元通寶。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面有錢文「開元通寶」四字，兼隸兼篆，由上至下由右至左對讀。錢文風格模仿唐初形制，但文字漫漶。「開」字左下方陰蝕一點，不知是否為工匠有意造成。

錢幕之錢穿下方似乎有一符號，惟文字漫漶難以辨識。一般而言，河中粟特人所鑄之錢，錢幕會有族徽(古突厥語：𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga)，據稱有些族徽為王莽「貨泉」幣上之懸針篆體簡化而來，或許因王莽時期為錢幣形制傳入西域的主要時代。也有些學者認為錢幕符號來源於祆教或景教的象徵。晚期錢幕也出現了粟特文的王名與稱號。

安國為粟特城邦之一，位於河中西部地區(今烏茲別克西南部)，於唐代時人認為是「昭武九姓」或「九姓胡」的一支，其國人於漢境行走時常以國名為姓，著名者如安祿山。雖名「九姓」，但並非僅有九個政權，也大概並非單一民族組成。粟特人源流可能可以上溯至大月氏被匈奴擊滅後的殘部，於當地逐漸與突厥等民族相融。唐太宗貞觀四年(公元630年)，唐軍將領李靖、李勣攻滅東突厥汗國，唐廷對西域影響力漸增。貞觀十二年(公元638年)時安國首次入貢。唐高宗顯慶四年(公元659年)，唐滅西突厥，羈縻昭武九姓，封安國君主為安息州刺史，統歸安西大都護府管理。粟特人藉地利與商貿之便，往來於絲綢之路沿線，並於長安、洛陽等地建立社群，並逐漸於唐帝國的軍、政系統中取得一定地位。唐中宗景隆三年(公元709年)，伍麥亞王朝(時稱白衣大食)將領，呼羅珊總督屈底波·本·穆斯林征服安國都城捕喝(即布哈拉Bukhara古譯)，安國覆亡。